U.S. seeks tighter bail for FTX founder Bankman-Fried to prevent tampering

Source: Reuters

U.S. seeks tighter bail for FTX founder Bankman-Fried to prevent tampering

Jonathan Stempel
Fri, January 27, 2023 at 7:44 PM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday asked a Manhattan judge to impose tougher bail conditions on Sam Bankman-Fried, expressing concern that the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange might tamper with witnesses or destroy evidence in his criminal case.

Citing Bankman-Fried's "recent attempts to contact prospective witnesses," prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to ban Bankman-Fried from communicating with current or former employees of FTX or his Alameda Research hedge fund, other than family, unless a lawyer is present.

They also asked that Bankman-Fried not use Signal or other encrypted call and messaging applications, though he could still communicate through text messages, email and the phone.

Bankman-Fried, 30, has been free on $250 million bond and required to live with his parents since pleading not guilty to looting billions of dollars from the now-bankrupt FTX.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/u-seeks-tighter-bail-ftx-004403937.html