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Former Mt. Gox CEO, Mark Karpelès, recalled his own time in jail while reflecting on the recent situation with ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried's lawyers are making efforts to secure his release from prison due to inadequate internet access, as he preps for his imminent trial.
Drawing from his experiences, Karpelès mentioned in a September 13 post on X (previously Twitter), how during his own incarceration in 2015, his only computing device was a basic calculator, capable of simple arithmetic functions.
Arrested twice in 2015, Karpelès faced allegations of misappropriating close to $3 million from Mt. Gox client accounts. During his detention, which lasted for almost a year before the trial, Karpelès was unable to access any evidence till almost eight months in. To manage this overwhelming load of evidence forwarded by his legal team, Karpelès crafted an intricate eight-page index using supplies from the prison's store.
Karpelès initially contemplated using an abacus, the age-old counting apparatus with sliding beads. However, a compassionate prison officer informed him about the allowance of calculators in cases requiring computations. Taking advantage of this, Karpelès invested about $120 in a superior calculator, which possessed functions like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and even square root calculation.
In the end, Karpelès attributed his eventual clearance of embezzlement and breach of trust accusations, in August 2019, to the crucial support provided by his calculator and, naturally, the relentless efforts of his attorneys.
Meanwhile, the predicament of Bankman-Fried is taking center stage. His legal team's plea, emphasizing inadequate internet for trial preparations, was dismissed by District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan on September 12. The judge stated that unsatisfactory internet connectivity didn't justify a release.
Facing a dozen criminal allegations, Bankman-Fried's trials are slated for October 2, 2023, and March 11, 2024. He has asserted his innocence on all accusations.
