On Friday, a judge sided with prosecutors and revoked the bail of former CEO and founder of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried. The prosecutors had filed for revoking of bail as they alleged that he had tampered with witnesses, during his house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California. Sam Bankman-Fried will be remanded to custody, straight from the court hearing in New York. He will remain in jail till October 2, the day when his criminal trial is scheduled to begin.
Sam Bankman-Fried continued to have several dealings with the press, despite his bail conditions. The Department of Justice said that these exchanges were a “pattern of witness tampering and evading his bail conditions.”
Earlier in July, Judge Lewis Kaplan had given the former CEO of FTX a stern warning about his continued conversations with the press. Now, the same judge has revoked his bail.
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried argued that it would be difficult for him to prepare for his trial as a huge amount of discovery documents could be accessed with the help of a computer that had internet access and this would be difficult if he was in jail.
Defense prosecutors argued that the defendant, Sam Bankman Fried, had sent more than 100 emails to the media. He had also made more than 1,000 calls to press members.
Prosecutors also said that he leaked ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison’s private diary entries to the New York Times. Caroline Ellison, who was the former head of Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to federal charges in December 2022, unlike Bankman-Fried who has pleaded not guilty.
Caroline Ellison is expected to be a star witness of the prosecutors. She has been cooperating with federal authorities since December 2022. The government said that Bankman-Fried was trying to discredit Ellison through “indirect witness intimidation through the press.”
This final argument, following a series of other bail violations including using a VPN network, using encrypted apps such as telegram and more, before the diary leak, seem to have convinced Judge Kaplan to revoke Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail, and to send him to jail as he awaits a criminal trial. He faces charges including wire and securities fraud and more, after the unexpected collapse of the multibillion-dollar crypto exchange FTX and crypto hedge fund Alameda Research.
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