NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Friday requested a Manhattan decide to impose more durable bail situations on Sam Bankman-Fried, expressing concern that the founding father of the FTX cryptocurrency trade may tamper with witnesses or destroy proof in his felony case.
Citing Bankman-Fried’s “latest makes an attempt to contact potential witnesses,” prosecutors requested U.S. District Choose Lewis Kaplan to ban Bankman-Fried from speaking with present or former workers of FTX or his Alameda Analysis hedge fund, apart from household, until a lawyer is current.
In addition they requested that Bankman-Fried not use Sign or different encrypted name and messaging purposes, although he may nonetheless talk by textual content messages, e mail and the telephone.
Bankman-Fried, 30, has been free on $250 million bond and required to dwell along with his mother and father since pleading not responsible to looting billions of {dollars} from the now-bankrupt FTX.
Legal professionals for Bankman-Fried didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
In Friday’s letter, prosecutors cited a Sign message on Jan. 15 from Bankman-Fried to “Witness-1,” the overall counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate. Bankman-Fried expressed curiosity in having a “constructive relationship” or “not less than vet issues with one another.”
Prosecutors stated this was “significantly regarding” as a result of Bankman-Fried knew the overall counsel had probably damaging info, having participated simply earlier than FTX’s November collapse in communications by which Bankman-Fried mentioned utilizing Alameda funds to fulfill FTX buyer withdrawals.
“The defendant’s request to ‘vet issues with one another’ is suggestive of an effort to affect Witness-1’s potential testimony, and the attraction for a ‘constructive relationship’ likewise implies that Witness-1 ought to align with the defendant,” prosecutors stated.
“Even when the defendant has circuitously tried to tamper with witnesses, (his) contact with witnesses could intimidate them” into not coming ahead or testifying, prosecutors added.
In looking for to maintain Bankman-Fried off Sign, prosecutors stated he had in 2021 directed that many Sign and Slack communications be autodeleted inside 30 days.
Prosecutors stated former Alameda chief Caroline Ellison, who pleaded responsible within the case and is cooperating with them, informed them Bankman-Fried had indicated it could possibly be more durable to construct authorized circumstances if info weren’t preserved.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Enhancing by Cynthia Osterman
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