Bullet Points:
• U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has been assigned to preside over the fraud case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
• Kaplan was appointed to the Manhattan federal court by President Bill Clinton in 1994.
• In 2020, Kaplan criticized some plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against blockchain firm Block.one.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has been assigned to preside over the fraud case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. He replaces U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who recused herself from the case on Friday because of a potential conflict of interest due to her husband’s involvement with law firm Davis Polk & Waddell. Bankman-Fried is currently under house arrest on a $250 million bond and is due to appear in federal court on January 3rd.
Judge Kaplan was appointed to the Manhattan federal court by President Bill Clinton in 1994 and has a long history of presiding over high-profile cases. In 2014, he ruled in favor of oil giant Chevron in an environmental case, and in 2021 he settled a sexual-assault case brought against Prince Andrew by Virginia Giuffre. Furthermore, in 2020 he criticized some plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against blockchain firm Block.one. The case was eventually settled out of court with Block.one paying $27.5 million.
The fraud case against Bankman-Fried is sure to be a complex and high-stakes endeavor, and Judge Kaplan’s extensive experience will no doubt be a great asset. He is sure to bring a level of insight and expertise to the case that will help ensure a just outcome.