Dec 22 (Reuters) – FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried clinched a bail deal on Thursday that will see him launched on a $250 million bond secured in opposition to his dad and mom’ property with restrictions on his motion.
Right here is an explainer on how his deal stacks up and the way bail works:
Was Bankman-Fried anticipated to get bail?
Defendants are presumed to be eligible for bail except prosecutors can show that no set of circumstances might be sure that they’d return to courtroom. As Bankman-Fried was accused of a white collar, or monetary, crime, it might have been stunning if he had not acquired bail.
How did Bankman-Fried safe bail?
Defendants safe bail by placing up sufficient of their very own property to cowl a portion of their bond.
These so-called bond packages are mixes of property that may embrace money, actual property or the rest of worth. They’re usually co-signed by relations who can be on the hook if a defendant flees.
White collar defendants usually have the means to place up bond packages, however defendants with restricted property will usually use a bail bondsman.
Bankman-Fried’s bail was secured by his dad and mom Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, who supplied up their dwelling in Palo Alto, California.
Does the bail quantity imply Bankman-Fried or his household has $250 million?
No. In Bankman-Fried’s case, the $250 million bond is secured by his dad and mom’ dwelling. Since Bankman-Fried’s dad and mom signed the bond settlement, they’d be on the hook for $250 million if their son flees.
“They’ll take every little thing else,” mentioned Michael Bachner, a New York felony protection lawyer. “They’ll go forward and take the financial institution accounts, the IRA accounts, inventory accounts.”
The $250 million bond doesn’t replicate the household’s property, which couldn’t be decided. Bankman-Fried mentioned in late November that he now had “near nothing” left and is down to 1 working bank card with “possibly $100,000 in that checking account.” learn extra
Is that this the biggest bail in white collar historical past?
It is actually huge. New York federal prosecutors have described Bankman-Fried’s alleged crimes and the collapse of his $32 billion crypto empire as one of many largest monetary frauds in U.S. historical past. His bond bundle far exceeds a number of the most infamous circumstances in that historical past.
“It is the biggest bond I’ve ever heard of in my historical past of doing bonds,” mentioned Ira Judelson, a outstanding New York bail bondsman who makes a speciality of high-profile defendants.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founding father of blood testing startup Theranos who was convicted of defrauding traders in January, was launched after her 2018 arrest on a $500,000 bond after surrendering her passport.
The late financier Bernard Madoff, whose $65 billion Ponzi scheme was the biggest in historical past, was launched in 2008 on a $10 million bond after surrendering his passport and consenting to strict monitoring circumstances and curfews.
Will Bankman-Fried be touring overseas?
Defendants sometimes should give up their passports and put on monitoring gadgets.
Prosecutor Nicolas Roos informed U.S. Justice of the Peace Decide Gabriel Gorenstein that the bail bundle would require Bankman-Fried to give up his passport and stay in dwelling confinement at his dad and mom’ Palo Alto dwelling. He would even be required to endure common psychological well being therapy and analysis.
How lengthy might Bankman-Fried be out on bail?
Some time. A trial in New York is probably going greater than a yr away as prosecutors construct their case and each side spar over proof. learn extra
Reporting by Jack Queen; Modifying by Megan Davies and Daniel Wallis
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