The federal judge assigned to oversee the case of FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried has resigned because her husband’s law firm advised on the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.
Ronnie Abrams, a district judge for the Southern District of New York, said in a court order Friday that the law firm of Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP — of which her husband is a partner — advised FTX in 2021.
The firm represents parties that may conflict with FTX and Bankman-Fried in other proceedings or potential proceedings, Abrams wrote.
“My husband was not involved in any of these depictions,” she wrote in the filing. “These matters are confidential and their content is not known to the court. However, to avoid any possible conflict or the appearance of one, the court hereby withdraws from this action.”
Judge Ronnie Abrams withdrew from Sam Bankman Fried’s case, AP
The law firm of which SDNY judge Ronnie Abrams’ husband is a partner advised FTX in 2021. Wikimedia Commons
Abrams’ husband, Greg D. Andres, is a former Brooklyn federal attorney who went on to serve as an assistant assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, the New York Times reported earlier this month.
Andres was part of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Before being appointed by President Barack Obama in 2012, Abrams also worked at Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she oversaw the pro bono program, according to The Times. From 1998 to 2008 she was a District Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.
Bankman-Fried, who is currently under house arrest while on a record-breaking $250 million bond issue, is accused of illegally using investors’ money to buy real estate, fund his trading firm Alameda Research and political Making donations that led to the sudden collapse of FTX last month.
He faces charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and campaign finance violations that could see him behind bars for 115 years.