Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers avoid challenges to 'cartoon' villain image

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have said Bankman-Fried looted billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to prop up his crypto-focused trading firm Alameda Research.

Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers have complained that prosecutors at his fraud trial are portraying the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder as a "cartoon of a villain," but have done little to counter unflattering depictions of him offered to the jury by his former colleagues.

In cross-examining former members of his inner circle who have pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution, defense lawyers generally has avoided challenging their accounts of Bankman-Fried angrily snapping at colleagues who questioned key company decisions. They also did not challenge testimony by one of the witnesses that his quirky persona was mostly an act.

Defense lawyers will have a chance to put forward a competing narrative when they present their case, beginning as soon as Thursday. But the testimony presented by the prosecution that has painted a negative portrait of the defendant's character, if it remains unchallenged, could make jurors more willing to convict Bankman-Fried, according to experts.

"Even though it doesn't go directly to guilt or innocence, it might create a bad impression," said Jordan Estes, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan who is now a partner at law firm Kramer Levin. "It's easier to convict someone that you might not like as much."

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Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have said Bankman-Fried looted billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to prop up his crypto-focused trading firm Alameda Research, make speculative venture investments and donate more than $100 million to U.S. political campaigns to burnish his image in Washington.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy. He could spend decades in prison if convicted.