The legal team backing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has asked a court to expunge certain information about the individuals serving as guarantors for his $250 million bail, citing threats made against his family.
In a letter dated January 3 to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bankman-Fried’s legal team asks the court to order that “names and other identifying information ” of two bond guarantors are not disclosed to the public and that they be drawn up from the bonds once they are signed on January 5. Mark Cohen of the law firm Cohen & Gresser said that if individuals’ personal information were made public, they could be subjected to similar harassment to the parents of former FTX CEO Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman.
“In recent weeks, the parents of Mr. Bankman-Fried have become the targets of intense media scrutiny, harassment and threats”Cohen said. “Among other things, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents have received a constant stream of threatening correspondence, including communications wishing them to suffer bodily harm. Consequently, there are serious reasons to fear that the two additional guarantors face similar intrusions into their privacy, as well as threats and harassment if their names appear blank on their bonds or their identities are otherwise publicly disclosed.”
Fried and Bankman secured their son’s bail in December on a $250 million bond, using equity from his Palo Alto home where Bankman-Fried is currently under house arrest.. Cohen cited legal precedent that a lack of public disclosure around others willing to financially support the SBF would “preserve superior values” and not impede the judicial power of the court:
“If the remaining two collaterals are publicly identified, they are likely to be subject to media scrutiny and potentially subject to harassment, despite having no substantial connection to the case. Consequently, the privacy and security guarantees are ‘countervailing factors’ that significantly outweigh the presumption of public access to the very limited information in question”.
Cryptocurrency users on Twitter speculated on the identity of the anonymous guarantors, throwing names like Kevin O’Leary and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. One of them He suggested that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao might have helped Bankman-Fried, an unlikely conclusion given the two cryptocurrency bosses’ clashes on social media during the FTX bankruptcy.
Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States after his arrest in the Bahamas in December. He is expected to appear in person in court on January 3 to plead not guilty to criminal charges, which include wire fraud, securities fraud and violation of campaign finance laws.
Bankman-Fried set to enter not guilty plea in FTX fraud case https://t.co/Od33DFnwBz pic.twitter.com/gNFZiEpjGV
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 3, 2023
FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison have already pleaded guilty to related charges and have begun cooperating with authorities. Ellison also offered a statement in December acknowledging the financial ties between FTX and Alameda at the center of the prosecutors’ case against SBF.
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