Bloomberg News reports that federal authorities have taken FTX’s co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, into custody following a statement by a federal judge. The federal judge said that the crypto mogul tried to influence or tamper two witnesses while they were on bail.
Bail revoked
The US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan revoked the bail of the 31-year-old after a hearing on Friday in Manhattan. After Bankman Fried removed his shoelaces, tie, and jacket, authorities remanded him into judicial custody and handcuffed him. The marshals escorted him outside of the courtroom. While this happened, his mother broke down in the public gallery. Bankman Fried’s father consoled her.
What did Sam Bankman Fried do?
Kaplan revealed that Fried tried to influence two witnesses, namely, the former general counsel of FTX and former Chief Executive Officer of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison.
Sam Bankman Fried influenced them to “back off” and “hedge their cooperation” with the government.
Kaplan also stated that a defendant’s speech is not protected to the extent that it might be said with the intention of bringing about a crime.
A notice was filed immediately by the former FTX chief executive officer’s lawyer for appealing the decision of the bail. However, he lost an application before the order of Kaplan.
Metropolitan Detention Center
It meant that Bankman Fried would remain in jail as his legal team would fight to overturn the revocation in the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Sam Bankman Fried is supposed to be taken to MDC or Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn right from the courthouse, as revealed by people familiar with the issue.
The MDC is New York’s main federal prison. It is for the defendants that are waiting for trial. It also had inmates to the likes of the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. However, it still needs to be made clear how Bankman Fried will stay at the MDC, and prosecutors suggest that it is likely that he will be shifted to Putnam County Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
The prosecutors had requested the judges to revoke Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail package following accusations of Bankman leaking the documents. The primary purpose of leaking the documents was to disgrace Ellison, who is slated to be one of the main government witnesses.
New York Times Story Trigerred Investigation
The New York Times published a story in the past month that triggered the recent fight over Sam Bankman Fried’s bail. The write-up published parts of excerpts of diary notes made on Google Docs by Ellison. Ellison and Bankman had earlier been in a relationship.
