International Bankruptcy, Restructuring, True Crime and Appeals - Court Audio Recording Podcast

hearing on emergency motion to stay pending appeal

discussing QVC's bank accounts including the QVC Chinese bank account(s)

Bankruptcy proceedings of Seales Domestic Water Company, Trona Railway and Searles Valley Minerals.The Searles Valley Minerals bankruptcy petition lists, as equity security holders of the debtors, Karnavati Holdings, Inc. and Searles Valley Minerals Inc.

This is the official court audio, posted by the Court of Appeals on November 5, 2025. I am reposting today because the Court of Appeals has handed down a ruling today affirming the criminal conviction. Below are my thoughts from the day of the argument on appeal, and I continue to hope there can be an amicable resolution among the parties:—The appellate argument is in the appeal of Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal conviction which proceeded, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The argument was scheduled for 20 minutes or so and went beyond an hour. The bench was a hot bench, with the judges on the panel prepared to ask a lot of questions.Maybe the case will be resolved consensually?The appellant’s side, SBF’s counsel, argued to the appellate judges that more evidence of advice of counsel would have changed the jury’s decision to convict. The judges were skeptical.But the appellee, the government, had a hard time justifying the forfeiture order against Sam Bankman-Fried, which was part of his punishment.There is a disconnect between the presentation of massive losses in the record of the criminal trial relative to representations of customers being paid in full in the FTX bankruptcy. This was discussed at some length during the argument today. I am not sure it is correct that the FTX customers who are to receive (the low) cash value of Crypto as of 11/11/2022 (the FTX bankruptcy filing date, on Veterans Day, during Crypto Winter) are expected to receive the current value of the Crypto or more in the future. So maybe a fact check of the FTX bankruptcy plan would be helpful.More generally, how well the FTX bankruptcy is going/supposed to have gone in terms of paying customers in full seems to undermine at least the forfeiture order. It is not unusual that there is interplay between a criminal case and a bankruptcy case/appeal, proceeding on separate tracks but inter-related factually.I think there could possibly be a motion for new trial at the district court level regardless of the outcome of the appeal, based on the ability to seek a new trial where there is newly discovered evidence… where the interests of Justice require, etc. even where there was a lot of evidence at trial, evidence in support of a jury verdict.The appellate argument today raises questions like how much does acting on advice of counsel count? Is a person who has lawyers acting more in good faith than a person who doesn’t have lawyers? Like can a person hire lawyers to set up a business or help as it grows and be excused from criminal responsibility? If so - to what extent? One view expressed during the oral argument today was that it may depend on whether the lawyers know what the client was up to, but that is not something that would usually come into evidence at trial because of privilege issues.This was a fascinating argument. I don’t know if it is what SBF wanted to be represented to the court. Is this how he was told his case would be presented? Or does he have the same problem again, where the FTX bankruptcy case was allegedly described to him as planned a certain way, but then the case went another way and he was arrested and blamed for the collapse of FTX.Wasn’t he told that a bankruptcy would help liquidity, to monetize FTX assets so that customers could be paid? And then he handed over control of the company, which he laments. The pressure must have been very great, with the other FTX executives blaming him and a bankruptcy presented as a way to stabilize FTX’s business and avoid customer losses… and lawyers telling him what to do.I am concerned for pressure SBF is under from lawyers - BECAUSE he does rely on advice of counsel, now as he must - and his emotional health and well being must be under so much pressure.With potential for the SBF case to be heard by the US Supreme Court or a retrial or a pardon, the stakes are high. And with billions at stake in the forfeiture order, based on losses at time of trial that have been reduced, there seems a lot of room for compromise and come to an agreement that resolves the appeal.

opening with a presentation by the QVC bankruptcy case financiers

continuing questioning of Mr Meltzer

continuing questioning of Mr Meltzer

hearsay tale presented to the US bankruptcy court in Delaware of alleged happenings in Mexico, in support of proposed retention of Mexican counsel over objections

BTM

hearing on approval of sealed proposed settlement agreement between Saks and its largest landlord Simon Property Group to resolve litigation

It sounds like a court battle is planned in the QVC bankruptcy, in which "vulture investors" that allegedly bought stakes in QVC when it was already financially distressed will put on evidence towards trying to propose a different plan for QVC to exit bankruptcy under which they are paid more than the smooth sail out of bankruptcy the company lawyers would prefer. This kind of contentious litigation will likely be concerning to QVC suppliers, insurers and other interested parties - at a minimum because it is costly and preparation for hearings such as the upcoming distracts bankrupt companies' management. Maybe that is why the planning hearing is so vague as to what is going on, avoiding references to QVC or the Home Shopping Network? I don't know. This hearing seemed exceptionally vague. And I thought I heard a reference to an objection deadline of tomorrow but I am not sure. I think things may be possibly be moving too quickly for there to be time for parties to come forward and be heard in the case. More information about the QVC bankruptcy is available here including points of contact if people have questions about what is going on in the bankruptcy and deadlines: https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/QVC/

For the agenda for the hearing, see the amended agenda filed the day of the hearing, docket number 35618 here:https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/ftx/Home-DocketInfoThe court's ruling granting the objection to the claim gets into the FTX fraud, how people lost savings, some their families' life savings due to the FTX fraud for which Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted following trial by jury, and sentenced to a 25 year sentence. SBF has appealed his criminal conviction via counsel, seeking a new trial before a new judge.I believe Melamed is typically pronounced Me-LAH-med, not as it is pronounced by the court. The New York City based federal courts tend to do a better job with Jewish surnames than the Delaware federal courts. FTX's bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing in Delaware. SBF is imprisoned in California.MATTERS GOING FORWARD at this May 14, per the amended court agenda:FTX Recovery Trust’s Objection to Proofs of Claim Filed by ELD Capital LLC [D.I. 34251, filed on January 2, 2026] Status: The Court will issue a bench ruling on the objection at the hearing.FTX Recovery Trust’s Motion to Enforce Prior Orders that Preclude Seth Melamed from Asserting New Claims in Arbitration [D.I. 35243, filed on April 2, 2026] Objection Deadline: April 9, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. (ET); extended to April 20, 2026 for Seth Melamed. 

emergency motion

This is a peculiar hearing. Based on the explanation to the court on the record, this brief hearing was on approval of the revised disclosure statement submitted to the court for review within hours of the court hearing, with further party input and more changes anticipated. This is towards approval of the disclosure statement so Saks et al can solicit votes in support of a bankruptcy plan. I'm in the corporate restructuring space and found the presentation incomprehensible for the most part. I don't understand why people who didn't receive notice can be considered to have had a chance to review this disclosure statement and react to it in time to come forward to the bankruptcy court.

More information about the Ascend Elements bankruptcy is available on the free case administration website: https://veritaglobal.net/ascendAnd here's a link to Recycling Today's coverage of the Ascend Elements bankruptcy and events leading up to it: https://www.recyclingtoday.com/news/ascend-elements-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy/

The podcast skips a couple of hearings held in the Saks bankruptcy proceedings earlier in April. The 4/24/2026 hearing is a helpful one to review because it includes an update on the restructuring support agreement and also an update on the anticipated timing of the chapter 11 disclosure statement. Additionally the hearing includes a summary of the proposed chapter 11 exit financing, with the business justification for the terms. At the conclusion of the hearing, the bankruptcy court approved the proposed exit financing, and the court noted another hearing is on for next Friday.

In this case the Supreme Court is considering whether investor harm is a prerequisite to a disgorgement award in a civil action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).