Court rejected petition allowing Bankman-Fried to use exchange of messages
2023.02.07 14:36
Court rejected petition allowing Bankman-Fried to use exchange of messages
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – A joint agreement between Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried’s legal team and prosecutors that would have allowed the former FTX CEO to use certain messaging apps has been rejected by a federal judge.
A motion requesting that Bankman-Fried be permitted to use messaging services such as FaceTime, Zoom, and Facebook Messenger was denied by Judge Lewis Kaplan in a filing made on February 7 for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The judge did not explain why the motion was denied “without prejudice,” but he did say that the matter would be up for debate at a hearing on February 9.
As a result of allegations that the former FTX CEO contacted witnesses, the prosecution filed a motion in January recommending that the former CEO not use “any encrypted or ephemeral call or messaging application” as a condition of his bail. On February 1, Judge Kaplan ruled that SBF could not use the Signal app to contact FTX and Alameda employees because there was a risk of “inappropriate contact with prospective witnesses.”
However, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys were present when federal prosecutors discussed changing the bail condition, which would have granted him access to FaceTime, Zoom, iMessage, SMS text messaging, email, and Facebook Messenger. If “monitoring technology is installed on his cellphone that automatically logs and preserves all WhatsApp communications,” the former FTX CEO would also have been permitted to use WhatsApp.
Based on the communications that were discovered between SBF and the current CEO of FTX, John Ray, and FTX’s US general counsel, Ryne Miller, the authorities alleged that Bankman-Fried had attempted to influence witnesses. “Unless in the presence of counsel,” SBF cannot communicate with FTX or Alameda Research employees—current or former—under the Feb. 1 ruling.
In the Southern District of New York, eight criminal counts, including wire fraud, were brought against Bankman-Fried upon his arrest in December. While FTX’s bankruptcy case is ongoing in the District of Delaware, his trial is set to begin in October. SBF is still under house arrest at his parents’ California home, and he is only allowed to leave for events that have been approved, like court appearances.
