Cohen was previously part of the team that represented convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. He also successfully defended analyst Peter Black against a Securities and Exchange Commission suit in a 2014 trial. Cohen’s hiring by Bankman-Fried was first reported by Reuters.
Bankman-Fried hasn’t been charged with any crime, but federal prosecutors in Manhattan have begun investigating FTX’s collapse due in part to an unexplained $8-billion shortfall in funds. He is also facing class-action lawsuits and regulatory probes by the SEC and Commodities Future Trading Commission.
It’s unclear how Bankman-Fried plans to pay for the representation. Just weeks ago he was worth more than $15-billion, but last week said he only has about $100,000 and a credit card to his name. “I don’t necessarily have a long-term plan there yet” on how to pay legal fees, Bankman-Fried said on Tuesday. “I am not sure I will be able to pay all of the legal fees I need to pay.”Cohen was a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York before moving into defence and co-founding his firm Cohen & Gresser. He mainly appeared for Maxwell in pre-trial proceedings, including her bail hearing, though other lawyers at his firm were active in her trial.
Before FTX filed for bankruptcy last month, Bankman-Fried, 30, was advised by the law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison. But Bankman-Fried, who has ignored legal advice and taken part in several media interviews recently, and the Manhattan attorneys parted ways citing a conflict of interest.
I hope Netflix is on this.