• Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX, is seeking removal of bail restrictions on crypto asset transfers.
• His attorney, Mark Cohen, has sent a letter to the Southern District of New York (SDNY) judge Lewis Kaplan, requesting that two of the bail conditions be removed.
• These conditions include prohibiting Bankman-Fried from speaking with certain individuals, and restricting his access to crypto assets associated with FTX and Alameda Research.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder of FTX, is seeking to have his bail conditions amended in order to gain access to crypto assets associated with FTX and Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried was indicted by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, and currently faces eight charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission, and campaign finance violations. Consequently, the court’s Judge Kaplan imposed certain bail restrictions on Bankman-Fried, primarily remanding him to his parents’ home in California with a government-monitored ankle bracelet.
In an attempt to have these restrictions removed or amended, Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, has sent a letter to the Southern District of New York (SDNY) judge Lewis Kaplan. Cohen, who represented Ghislaine Maxwell during her recent sex trafficking case, requests that “two additions” be removed from Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions. The first is that Bankman-Fried is currently prohibited from speaking with Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, two redacted witnesses, and George Lerner (Bankman-Fried’s therapist). Cohen stresses that the bail condition is “overbroad” and Bankman-Fried’s intentions to contact these individuals are attempts to “offer assistance in FTX’s bankruptcy process”.
The second condition that Cohen seeks to have removed is the restriction on Bankman-Fried’s access to crypto assets associated with FTX and Alameda Research. Cohen argues that this condition is “unreasonable” and does not serve any legitimate purpose, as Bankman-Fried has no intention of engaging in any financial activities related to FTX or Alameda Research.
The letter concludes by urging the court to remove the bail restrictions, as it will enable Bankman-Fried to “re-establish the trust and credibility” that he had built in the crypto industry prior to his indictment. It remains to be seen whether the court will grant Bankman-Fried’s request or not, but the crypto industry is closely watching the situation as it unfolds.