The story of the founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has a new episode, as lawyers and the court continue to argue over the conditions of his bail.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers reportedly reached a new bond agreement with United States prosecutors, allowing him to stay home and prevent him from using some electronic devices and apps.
According to a Reuters story, the lawyers reached the new agreement on March 27 after a judge raised the need to send Bankman-Fried to jail pending trial. The new bail conditions still must be approved by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the Bankman-Fried case.
Under some of the proposed new conditions, Bankman-Fried will be barred from using a smartphone with internet access and any apps other than voice calls and text messages. The deal would also require Bankman-Fried to use a basic laptop with limited features and monitoring software to track its activity. The use of any other electronic communication device is prohibited.
In a letter Monday, Bankman-Fried’s parents allegedly agreed to restrict her access to her devices while signing affidavits not to bring prohibited electronic devices into their home. In the event of a “reasonable suspicion” of a violation, Bankman-Fried must submit your devices for review.
The new agreement comes just weeks after Judge Kaplan tried to bar Bankman-Fried from using electronic devices and the Internet as a condition of his bail. The judge argued that Bankman-Fried had an “electronic device garden” with Internet access available at the California home of Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried. Judge Kaplan also argued that there was “probable cause” to believe that Bankman-Fried was involved in attempted witness tampering.
In early March, Kaplan reportedly raised concerns about a proposal to place certain restrictions on Bankman-Fried’s phone and other electronic devices. He specifically suggested that the defendant was resourceful and could find ways around the restrictions.
As previously reported, Bankman-Fried faces trial set for October 2, 2023 on criminal charges of alleged theft of billions of dollars in FTX client funds facilitated through Alameda Research. It is also alleged that he made large illegal political donations. He has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges, which could result in 115 years in prison if convicted.
In December 2022, Bankman-Fried was released under the conditions of $250 million bail, house arrest, location monitoring, and the surrender of his passport. A few days later, some industry investigators spotted transactions allegedly involving Bankman-Fried moving around $700,000 on a Seychelles cryptocurrency exchange. The FTX founder subsequently denied his involvement in this or any other transaction allegedly linked to his or FTX’s person.
None of these are me. I’m not and couldn’t be moving any of those funds; I don’t have access to them anymore. https://t.co/5Gkin30Ny5
—SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 30, 2022
While Bankman-Fried hasn’t been banned from Twitter, he has stayed away from any social media activity for a while. His last visible activity on Twitter included a new publication about Sullivan & Cromwell continuing to represent FTX debtors on January 20, and a “like” to a news that the firm billed $7.5 million for FTX’s first 19 days of work.
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