The federal judge who’s overseeing the criminal cases involving FTX fraud grilled a former executive in an extraordinary court hearing Thursday, accusing him of lying to him and threatening to sanction his lawyers.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan scheduled the hearing after Ryan Salame, a former executive of Alameda Research and FTX Digital Markets, tried to withdraw his guilty plea. Salame said prosecutors broke a promise to him by later indicting his romantic partner, Michelle Bond — a claim that prosecutors vigorously disputed.
Salame later tried to withdraw his withdrawal, but the judge didn’t accept it. Instead, Kaplan grilled Salame under oath for over 30 minutes in his Manhattan courtroom Thursday morning, accusing him of misrepresenting the plea negotiations.
“You are asking me to let stand a conviction and sentence that I now know is based on a false statement during the plea,” Kaplan told Salame and his lawyers Thursday morning.
Salame clenched and unclenched his jaw.
“And that is a big problem,” Kaplan added.
Salame …