In a brief to Judge Lewis Kaplan on Thursday, prosecutors analogized one of the defense's jury instructions to a scene in the 1994 comedy "Dumb and Dumber." They commented that the defense was asserting that FTX customers had a credit to their funds despite the absence of actual money in their account. This was likened to the scene in the movie where the character portrayed by Jim Carrey exclaims, "That's as good as money, sir," when a briefcase is filled with IOUs as opposed to cash.
In a written brief on Thursday to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who's presiding over the Manhattan trial, assistant U.S. attorneys for the Southern District of New York took issue with several of the jury instructions provided by the defense team concerning the criminal trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The particular directive in question attempted to make the argument that clients of FTX still had a credit to the funds they deposited even if the money was not available, as it had been used for other things. Prosecutors, however, deemed this to be an argument that was "untethered to the facts of the case" and that "a credit to obtain funds at a later date, if such funds are ultimately available, is clearly not the same, or as valuable, as the money or property itself." To illustrate this point, the prosecution made a reference to the 1994 film "Dumb and Dumber," in which actor Jim Carrey says IOUs are "as good as money." In the movie, a briefcase previously filled with money was ultimately filled with paper, to which Carrey's character Lloyd Christmas replies: "That's as good as money, sir."Mark Cohen, the lead defender of Bankman-Fried, did not respond to CNBC's inquiry for a comment. Bankman-Fried, 31, is presently dealing with seven indictments linked to the breakdown of his crypto business in the previous year. He has pleaded not guilty and could be convicted to life in prison.The first three weeks of the trial were mostly focussed on the testimonies of Bankman-Fried's former associates, who used to be important members of FTX and Alameda, but have now gone contrary to him, some by making legal settlements with the government. The trail is expected to carry on until November after it resumes later on next week.Throughout the court proceedings, Judge Kaplan has had private talks with Bankman-Fried's lawyers and the prosecutors, scolding them for their attitude in court. Most recently this Thursday, Kaplan censured both parties, saying that the last expert witnesses were not familiar with crucial information and yet concluded that Bankman-Fried had done something unlawful. Both counsels were advised to be more cooperative with one another in future. — CNBC's Kate Rooney and Dawn Giel contributed to this report.WATCH: Prosecution in Sam Bankman-Fried trial wrapping up in coming days
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