A pregnant physician’s assistant, a train conductor, and a retired investment banker are reportedly among 12 individuals who will eventually decide on the fate of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
As per a report from Cointelegraph’s on-the-ground reporter Ana Paula Pereira, the 12 jurors were narrowed down from a list of 45 on Oct. 4, the second day of trial in Manhattan.
The potential jurors were each given a minute to introduce themselves by sharing their background, age, employment, education, relationship history, and children.
Cointelegraph reporter Pereira noted that one prospective juror said his wife worked for a law firm that provided services to FTX in the past — though it isn’t clear whether he was selected.
One prospective juror was reportedly excused after revealing she worked for a firm that invested in FTX and Alameda Research, according to Matthew Russell Lee from Inner City Press.
District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan then discussed jury selection with the prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyers before revealing the final 12 jury members about 15 minutes later.
Scenes from outside New York’s Supreme Court — a short walk away from where Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial is being held. Source: Cointelegraph
As per Oct. 4 reports from Bloomberg and TechCrunch, the final list or jurors shows the panel will be female-dominated, comprising nine women and three men.
Their ages range from the early 30s to the late 60s, and their professions span various industries, including health, financial, legal, IT, and education. Five of them are university-educated. The full list of jurors is below:
A man, aged in his late 60’s, was an investment banker at a firm called Salomon Brothers. He completed his Master of Business Administration at Stanford University.
A man, aged 59, didn’t say what he does for work but says his company is currently being sued. It is understood the man has served as a jury member in the past.
A man, aged 61, works at the United States Postal Service. He has no wife or children and has served as a jury member in the past.
A woman, aged 39, currently works as a physician assistant and was once a medical missionary in the Dominican Republic. She’s 10 weeks pregnant, and married to a web developer.
A middle-aged woman, who once studied at Duke University and has experience working with non-profits and managing fundraisers.
A woman, aged 50, works as a train conductor. She’s a mother of five children. Two of the five children have reportedly been convicted of crimes.
A woman, aged 65, is a retired corrections officer.
A woman, aged 33, works as a nurse in Westchester, New York and reportedly studied at the State University of New York, Binghamton.
A woman, aged 40, is currently unemployed as a social worker and previously studied at Princeton University and Columbia University.
A woman, who works at a school in the Bronx, New York. She previously studied at the University of Buffalo and Syracuse University.
A woman, who works in advertising. She has an 18-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son.
A woman, aged 55, working as a special education teacher in Rockland, New York.
After the jury members were selected, a 15-minute opening statement was delivered by the prosecutors and defense. Testimonies from Marc Julliard — a Coca broker who lost about $80,000 to FTX — and Adam Yedidia — Bankman-Fried’s former close friend — were then heard before Judge Kaplan called it a day.
Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial is expected to take place over six weeks. He is facing seven fraud-related charges for his role as CEO in FTX’s shock collapse in November.
There is “no doubt” the UK “will spend 3% of our GDP on defence” in the next parliament, the defence secretary has said.
John Healey’s comments come ahead of the publication of the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on Monday.
This is an assessment of the state of the armed forces, the threats facing the UK, and the military transformation required to meet them.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously set out a “clear ambition” to raise defence spending to 3% in the next parliament “subject to economic and fiscal conditions”.
Mr Healey has now told The Times newspaper there is a “certain decade of rising defence spending” to come, adding that this commitment “allows us to plan for the long term. It allows us to deal with the pressures.”
A government source insisted the defence secretary was “expressing an opinion, which is that he has full confidence that the government will be able to deliver on its ambition”, rather than making a new commitment.
The UK currently spends 2.3% of GDP on defence, with Sir Keir announcing plans to increase that to 2.5% by 2027 in February.
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This followed mounting pressure from the White House for European nations to do more to take on responsibility for their own security and the defence of Ukraine.
The 2.3% to 2.5% increase is being paid for by controversial cuts to the international aid budget, but there are big questions over where the funding for a 3% rise would be found, given the tight state of government finances.
While a commitment will help underpin the planning assumptions made in the SDR, there is of course no guarantee a Labour government would still be in power during the next parliament to have to fulfil that pledge.
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From March: How will the UK scale up defence?
A statement from the Ministry of Defence makes it clear that the official government position has not changed in line with the defence secretary’s comments.
The statement reads: “This government has announced the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the Cold War – 2.5% by 2027 and 3% in the next parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow, including an extra £5bn this financial year.
“The SDR will rightly set the vision for how that uplift will be spent, including new capabilities to put us at the leading edge of innovation in NATO, investment in our people and making defence an engine for growth across the UK – making Britain more secure at home and strong abroad.”
Sir Keir commissioned the review shortly after taking office in July 2024. It is being led by Lord Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and NATO secretary general.
The Ministry of Defence has already trailed a number of announcements as part of the review, including plans for a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command and a £1bn battlefield system known as the Digital Targeting Web, which we’re told will “better connect armed forces weapons systems and allow battlefield decisions for targeting enemy threats to be made and executed faster”.
Image: PM Sir Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary John Healey on a nuclear submarine earlier this year. Pic: Crown Copyright 2025
On Saturday, the defence secretary announced a £1.5bn investment to tackle damp, mould and make other improvements to poor quality military housing in a bid to improve recruitment and retention.
Mr Healey pledged to “turn round what has been a national scandal for decades”, with 8,000 military family homes currently unfit for habitation.
He said: “The Strategic Defence Review, in the broad, will recognise that the fact that the world is changing, threats are increasing.
“In this new era of threat, we need a new era for defence and so the Strategic Defence Review will be the vision and direction for the way that we’ve got to strengthen our armed forces to make us more secure at home, stronger abroad, but also learn the lessons from Ukraine as well.
“So an armed forces that can be more capable of innovation more quickly, stronger to deter the threats that we face and always with people at the heart of our forces… which is why the housing commitments that we make through this strategic defence review are so important for the future.”