World

FTX’s Bankman-Fried, seeking to avoid jail, denies witness tampering

2023.08.01 21:27


© Reuters. Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the United States Courthouse in New York City, U.S., July 26, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried, the indicted founder of the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, on Tuesday said he never meant to intimidate witnesses at his scheduled October fraud trial, and there is no reason to jail him.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried said prosecutors mischaracterized his intentions in giving a New York Times reporter the writings of former romantic partner Caroline Ellison, who is expected to testify against him.

“Mr. Bankman-Fried’s contact with the New York Times reporter was not an attempt to intimidate Ms. Ellison or taint the jury pool,” his lawyer, Mark Cohen, wrote in the letter. “It was a proper exercise of his rights to make fair comment on an article already in progress.”Bankman-Fried, 31, has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund Alameda Research, where Ellison was chief executive.

He has been largely confined to his parents’ Palo Alto, California home on $250 million bond since his December 2022 arrest.

Ellison is one of three former members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle who pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan.

Kaplan barred Bankman-Fried from speaking about the case and asked both sides to submit written arguments about possible jail.

Prosecutors may respond to Bankman-Fried’s letter by Thursday. It is not known when Kaplan will rule.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 80,093.46 7.01%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,135.10 9.54%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.999428 0.01%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.04 8.55%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 576.99 6.14%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 132.16 5.99%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.01%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.187812 10.31%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.603478 9.89%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,131.22 9.55%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.2228 2.67%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 80,015.44 6.98%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 119.79 7.58%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,551.15 9.46%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 13.95 10.53%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 21.25 7.96%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.19 0.34%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.63 9.51%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.263099 9.45%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.23 7.45%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000013 8.90%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.188236 6.22%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.01%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.62 8.44%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 7.22 1.19%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 19.70 5.76%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,138.37 9.30%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 0.999324 0.04%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 281.98 6.01%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 3.81 7.17%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 7.27 11.21%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,267.98 9.31%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 210.19 1.68%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 25.62 3.07%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.87 4.44%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.86 7.42%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999785 0.04%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000008 10.92%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 6.23 7.08%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.04 0.09%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.916593 8.20%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 183.89 11.37%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.38 3.37%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 309.53 14.83%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 42.82 6.89%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 20.13 6.81%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.700016 7.27%
tokenize-xchange
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 29.17 3.54%
coinbase-wrapped-btc
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 80,130.47 6.98%
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 11.36 14.17%