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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried heads to court after judge rejects bail request
https://finance.yahoo.com/m/ec32a5e6...man-fried.html
Federal prosecutors say SBF’s communications indicate he may be trying to influence a witness
NEW YORK — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will head to a New York courtroom Thursday to face a federal judge who said his effort to contact a likely trial witness against him seemed designed so they would “sing out of the same hymn book.”
On Tuesday, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan rejected Bankman’s-Fried’s lawyers’ request that oral arguments about his bail be cancelled because lawyers on both sides have settled their differences on necessary changes to his bail package in order to prevent inappropriate contact with witnesses or damaging encrypted social media communications.
The arguments, set for Thursday morning, will proceed as scheduled, the judge ruled as he declined to immediately approve new bail conditions that defense lawyers said prosecutors had agreed with, including the exemption of certain individuals from a proposed no-contact list and permission for Bankman-Fried to place audio and video calls.
The hearing was scheduled after prosecutors said Bankman-Fried sent an encrypted message over the Signal texting app on Jan. 15 to the general counsel of FTX US.
“I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other. I’d love to get on a phone call sometime soon and chat,” Bankman-Fried wrote to the FTX general counsel, who isn’t named but is dubbed “Witness 1,” in the prosecutors’ letter.
Federal prosecutors told Kaplan that Bankman-Fried’s communications indicate he may be trying to influence a witness with incriminating evidence against him.
Last week, Kaplan wrote that Bankman’s-Fried’s lawyers appealed to him to interpret the message “in a benign way.” But he said their argument was not persuasive.
“In perhaps more colloquial terms, it appears to have been an effort to have both the defendant and Witness 1 sing out of the same hymn book,” Kaplan said.
The judge said a possible motive was evident from the fact that the general counsel was undisputedly a witness to some events likely to be at issue in the case and Bankman-Fried faces the possibility of a long prison term if he is convicted.
Kaplan said the question of whether further measures should be taken to restrict Bankman-Fried’s actions was also raised by allegations that he directed employees in the past to use applications whose communications could be erased and because he had invited a telephonic rather than written response from the general counsel.
The judge said he must decide whether further measures should be imposed to assure the safety of the community from efforts by Bankman-Fried to influence or tamper with prospective witnesses.
Bankman-Fried, 30, has been confined with electronic monitoring to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, since his December arrest on
charges that he cheated investors and that he looted customer deposits on his cryptocurrency trading platform, in part to finance political donations and make risky trades at Alameda Research.
He has pleaded not guilty. A trial has been tentatively set for early October.
Also Tuesday, lawyers for Bankman-Fried appealed Kaplan’s decision to make public the names of two individuals who signed Bankman-Fried’s $250 million personal recognizance bond. The names, which were ordered revealed at the request of news outlets, will remain secret while the appeal is considered.
about those well heeled backers ....
Court keeps secret for now who backed bail for FTX's Bankman-Fried
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/court...213101518.html
Alexis Keenan·Reporter
Tue, February 7, 2023 at 3:31 PM CST·3 min read
The names of wealthy backers who guaranteed a $250 million bail bond for indicted former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried will remain a secret —
for now.
On Tuesday, Bankman-Fried's lawyers filed court documents indicating their plan to appeal a Manhattan district court judge's January 30 decision to unseal the names. They are asking that the matter be decided by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
The request to make the names public was made by a group of news organizations that contend the public has a right to the information.
The guarantors made it possible for the former crypto CEO to post the $25 million in assets required to stay out of custody while he awaits trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan previously ordered unsealing to take place on Tuesday based on his expectation that the guarantors, known as bail sureties, were less likely to face the same level of scrutiny and harassment that Bankman-Fried's parents allegedly received, and given that such information is typically made public.
Judge Kaplan said the issue, if appealed, would be paused by the district court until 5 p.m. on February 14, so that any adversely affected party could request a stay from the Second Circuit.
Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, leaves following a hearing at Manhattan federal court in New York City, U.S. January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Before the full details of the bail arrangement were made public, court documents showed that the bond was secured by a $4 million home owned by Bankman-Fried’s parents as well as two individuals.
Prior to the district court's ruling, attorneys for Bankman-Fried argued that the guarantors' identities should remain private to ensure their safety and to protect them from harassment.
“In recent weeks, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents have become the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats. Among other things, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents have received a steady stream of threatening correspondence, including communications expressing a desire that they suffer physical harm,” Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried's lawyer, argued that the other co-signers, if publicly identified, could face similar consequences.
In December, the U.S. Justice Department
charged Bankman-Fried with multiple felonies, including wire fraud, securities and commodities fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance violations, claiming he illegally used FTX customer and investor funds.
Convictions on all eight of Bankman-Fried’s charges together carry up to 115 years in prison.
Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the
Commodities Futures Trading Commission filed civil suits against the former crypto mogul, FTX.com, and Alameda Research.
The right to bail is governed by the U.S. Constitution’s
8th Amendment, which prohibits excessive bail. In setting bail conditions, a judge is tasked with ensuring public safety and that the defendant will show up in court to face charges.
To guard against a defendant’s flight risk, a judge can impose financial and other consequences that trigger if a defendant flees prosecution. In Bankman-Fried’s case, the judge also required that the former billionaire remain on home confinement with limited local travel, wear an ankle monitor, surrender his passport, and refrain from financial transactions exceeding $1,000.
Typically, a defendant must pledge assets equal to around 10% of the bond amount. In Bankman-Fried’s case, his $250 million bond means that he was required to pledge assets totalling about $25 million.
and the best for last ......
FTX Asks Politicians Who Received Bankman-Fried Donations to Return Money
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ftx-a...182211407.html
Danny Nelson
Sun, February 5, 2023 at 12:22 PM CST·1 min read
Alex Wong
Sam Bankman-Fried showered politicians with tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions before his FTX empire imploded last November. Now, the bankrupt crypto exchange wants that money back.
On Sunday, FTX Group said it is sending “confidential letters” to politicians and other political beneficiaries of Bankman-Fried, his deputies and his companies, asking them to return the money by the end of the month.
In a press release the debtors said they “reserve the right” to try and force repayments – plus interest – through court action.
The announcement escalates a fight over as much as $93 million (according to the debtors' estimates) in political donations FTX made to an array of D.C. lawmakers and causes across the political spectrum. One in three members of the current U.S. congress received contributions from Bankman-Fried’s orbit, according to CoinDesk
reporting. It was a monumental influence campaign that crossed party lines.
With FTX’s top brass now facing an array of criminal charges over their alleged multibillion-dollar fraud, many of their beneficiaries have tried to cancel out the taint of scandal by making equivalent donations to charities. But the debtors now charged with recouping creditors’ losses warned such action “does not prevent the FTX Debtors from seeking recovery.”
