Judge Still Thinks Proposed Bankman-Fried Bail Conditions Too Lenient

On March 10, Reuters reported that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan had expressed concerns over the proposed bail conditions for former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Summary of Article

• U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan expressed concern on March 10th over the proposed bail conditions for Sam Bankman-Fried.
• Kaplan was worried that Bankman-Fried could find ways to evade the restrictions and covertly communicate with others electronically.
• Bankman-Fried is currently facing charges of stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds, making illegal political donations, and tampering with witnesses.

Background on Sam Bankman Fried’s Case

Sam Bankman Fried is a former FTX founder who is fighting to avoid jail until his scheduled fraud trial on October 2nd . He is currently charged with stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds, making tens of millions of dollars in illegal political donations, and tampering with witnesses.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph on March 4th , Kaplan — serving on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York — proposed that Bankman-Fried be prohibited from using smartphones, tablets, computers and any video game platforms or devices that allow chat and voice communication. The proposal said that Bankman-Fried’s communication should be limited to “a flip phone or other non-smartphone with either no internet capabilities or internet capabilities disabled.”

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan Expresses Concerns Over Proposed Bail Conditions

At a March 10 hearing however, Kaplan expressed concern over the proposal suggesting that Bankman-Fried was “inventive” and could find ways to evade the restrictions and covertly communicate with others electronically.

Christian Everdell, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer assured the court that he would work with prosecutors on a new proposal to address the judge’s concerns.

Previous Scrutiny Surrounding $250 Million Bail

< p >Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail has been subject to scrutiny since February 9th following revelations that he had attempted to contact possible witnesses in his case. Additionally, he was temporarily prohibited from using a VPN after prosecutors alleged that he had utilized it twice; once on January 29th , again on February 12th . Three former associates including Caroline Ellison (former Alameda CEO), Gary Wang (former FTX technology chief) and James Campbell (former FTX engineering lead) have all been arrested as part of this investigation into fraud allegations against Sam Bankman Fried.< h2 >< b >Conclusion < p >It remains unclear how exactly U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will decide upon new terms for Sam Bankamn Friedman’s bail conditions but it is clear this case will continue to draw attention as more details arise regarding these fraud allegations against him.