On December 6, 2022, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) reportedly retained attorney Mark Cohen, the attorney who represented Ghislaine Maxwell in her recent sex trafficking case. The SBF spokesperson further explained that the FTX co-founder is consulted by a Stanford Law School professor, David Mills.
Sam Bankman-Fried hires a lawyer who represented Ghislaine Maxwell
The disgraced former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) would be represented by Mark Cohen of the law firm Cohen & Gresser. Cohen is the well-known lawyer who represented Ghislaine Maxwell during his sex trafficking case. Maxwell, a close friend of now deceased and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was found guilty of five out of six counts, including sex trafficking of a minor. She was sentenced to 20 years in June and still faces other charges. Cohen is a licensed attorney in New York and Florida and the now-convicted Maxwell was also represented by Christian Everdell, the attorney who prosecuted Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Cohen’s portrayal of SBF was reported by Reuters after the outlet was briefed on the information by SBF spokesman Mark Botnick. Reuters contacted Cohen & Gresser and “Cohen could not be reached for comment,” the news publication detailed on Tuesday. Botnick further disclosed that SBF was consulted by Stanford Law professor David Mills. SBF’s father, Joseph Bankman, is also a law professor at Stanford, and the San Francisco Standard recently reported that the Stanford law scholar has canceled his previously scheduled classes at the university.
Semafor reported this the 30-year-old SBF was represented by Martin Flumenbaum at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, but that relationship has since ended. Liz Lindqwister and Anna Tong of the San Francisco Standard point out how “SBF is surrounded by a star-studded and ever-growing team of white-collar crime experts and legal bigwigs”. This despite the fact that the former CEO of FTX said it had fallen to $100,000 and one credit card. He also has detailed in another interview that retaining a lawyer was one of the challenges he faced, but the white collar litigation firms around SBF suggest he had no problem seeking legal advice.
Cohen is the managing partner of his litigation practice and manages the firm’s New York office. The attorney representing Maxwell was also Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Besides Maxwell’s case, Cohen is also known for win a case against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking to sue a New York fund manager. The Reuters report says sources familiar with the matter have said the SEC and “federal prosecutors in New York” have been investigating the collapse of the FTX.
What do you think of the fact that SBF would have hired the lawyer who represented Ghislaine Maxwell during her sex trafficking case? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.
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