Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks to Avoid Jail, Denies Witness Tampering in FTX Case

Founder of bankrupt crypto speech FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has sought to debar being jailed, denying prosecutors’ accusations of witnesser tampering that followed an interrogation helium gave for the New York Times. The indicted crypto mogul besides argued that revoking his enslaved would interruption his close to escaped speech.

Bankman-Fried Says He Never Tried to Intimidate Witnesses Ahead of Trial

Sam Bankman-Fried, the laminitis and erstwhile main enforcement of failed crypto speech FTX, claims helium has ne'er attempted to intimidate witnesses successful his proceedings acceptable to statesman successful October. In a missive to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan successful Manhattan, quoted by Reuters and Bloomberg, helium insisted determination was nary crushed for him to spell to jailhouse arsenic requested by the prosecution.

Last week, U.S. prosecutors asked Kaplan to jailhouse SBF aft an nonfiction published by the New York Times quoted excerpts from a diary written by Caroline Ellison, erstwhile CEO of Bankman-Fried’s hedge money Alameda Research and his erstwhile girlfriend. They accused him of trying to intimidate Ellison, who pleaded blameworthy and whitethorn attest against him.

Judge Kaplan imposed a impermanent gag bid and gave some sides clip to hole and taxable written arguments earlier helium rules connected the request. In the letter, SBF’s lawyer Mark Cohen stated that the interrogation “was a due workout of his rights to marque just remark connected an nonfiction already successful progress, for which the newsman already had alternate sources.” He besides stated:

Mr. Bankman-Fried’s interaction with the New York Times newsman was not an effort to intimidate Ms. Ellison oregon taint the assemblage pool.

Bahamas-headquartered FTX, 1 of the world’s largest crypto exchanges earlier it collapsed past year, filed for bankruptcy extortion successful the U.S. successful November. Bankman-Fried was arrested successful December successful the Bahamian capital, Nassau, and extradited to the United States to look fraud charges, including misuse of lawsuit funds, immoderate of which were allegedly transferred to Alameda.

Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not blameworthy and has been surviving nether location apprehension astatine his parent’s location successful California connected a $250 cardinal bond. He has often communicated with the nationalist and the media since his arrest, having made 100 calls with the New York Times newsman alone, according to U.S. authorities.

SBF’s lawyers assertion that jailing him would rise First Amendment issues. “As the authorities concedes, transgression defendants person a close to speech to the property astir their lawsuit to power their nationalist representation and effort to support their reputation, arsenic agelong arsenic the communications are not calculated to pervert the people of justice,” the missive notes. The defence besides argued that restricted net entree astatine the Metropolitan Detention Center successful Brooklyn, wherever SBF would beryllium held, would forestall him from preparing for the trial.

Do you hold with Sam Bankman Fried’s lawyers that a detention would interruption his free-speech rights and hinder preparations for the trial? Share your thoughts connected the lawsuit successful the comments conception below.