Sam Bankman-Fried's upcoming trial on fraud charges marks a major test for a broader crackdown on white collar crime led by Manhattan's top federal prosecutor: Damian Williams. Upon taking office in late 2021 as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Williams said 'rooting out corruption in our financial markets' would be one of his top priorities - a familiar role for an office known as the main enforcer on Wall Street. The Yale Law School graduate has since brought several indictments against former executives in the rough-and-tumble cryptocurrency space, as well as high-profile fraud charges against executives such as Charlie Javice of college financial aid platform Frank, Bill Hwang of Archegos Capital Management, and Joe Lewis, the billionaire former owner of an English soccer team.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York Damian Williams announces indictment against Celsius founder Alexander Mashinsky in New YorkNEW YORK - Sam Bankman-Fried's upcoming trial on fraud charges marks a major test for a broader crackdown on white collar crime led by Manhattan's top federal prosecutor: Damian Williams.
The cases Williams, 43, has brought so far show he has been a "steward" of the SDNY's longstanding priorities, said Kan Nawaday, who overlapped with Williams at the office. Bankman-Fried and Mashinsky have each pleaded not guilty. Williams, through a spokesperson, declined an interview request.Williams, SDNY's first Black U.S. Attorney, once clerked for former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, as well as current Attorney General Merrick Garland when Garland was an appellate judge. He led SDNY's securities and commodities task force before being nominated to the district's top post by President Joe Biden.
Williams' charges against Bankman-Fried came just one month after FTX's collapse, which former prosecutors say is very fast for a complex white collar case. "He's not afraid to take a calculated risk if it's for the good of the case," said Naftalis, now a partner at law firm Pallas.Bankman-Fried's trial comes after some setbacks and amid ongoing challenges for Williams' office. Last December, a judge dismissed the main criminal counts in a corruption case against former New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin for failing to allege a specific "quid pro quo.
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