FTX founder Bankman-Fried objects to tougher bail, says prosecutors ‘sandbagged’ him |
NEW YORK, 28 january (Reuters) – Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried on Saturday USA have urged a judge not to bar an accused FTX cryptocurrency executive from contacting former colleagues while on bail, and prosecutors crime they “threw the process into a sandbag” to bring him to responsibility. client in “the worst possible light”.
Lawyers, federal prosecutors responded late Friday to a request that Bankman-Fried not be allowed to speak with most employees of hedge fund FTX or Alameda Research without lawyers present or use the encrypted messaging apps Signal or Slack and automatically delete messages. .
Bankman-Fried, 30, is out on $250 million bond after pleading not guilty to fraud charges in the billions of dollars he stole from the now-bankrupt FTX free has been
Prosecutors said their request was in response to Bankman-Fried’s attempt to contact a potential witness against him, the FBI’s branch general counsel, and was necessary to prevent witness tampering and other obstruction of justice.
But in Manhattan USAIn a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys said prosecutors had proposed “overbroad” bail conditions without disclosing that the two sides had been in bail discussions for the past week.
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys said, “Rather than waiting for any response from the defense, the government bombarded the process by filing this letter at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.” “The government seems to think that a one-sided presentation designed to put our client in the worst possible light is the best way to achieve the desired result. way believes that it is.”
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys also said their clients’ attempts to contact John Ray, the general counsel appointed to act as FTX’s CEO during the bankruptcy, were “unhelpful.” offer attempts to intervene and not to intervene.
USA A spokesman for prosecutor Damian Williams in Manhattan declined to comment.
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys contacted some of her client’s colleagues, including her therapist offer did, but was not allowed to speak to Caroline Ellison and Zixiao “Gary” Wang, who pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors.
They said the Signal ban was not necessary because Bankman-Fried did not use an automatic takedown feature, and that there were concerns it might be “unfounded.”
The lawyers also asked to remove a bail bond barring Bankman-Fried from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets, saying there was “no evidence” that he was responsible for the previously alleged unauthorized transactions.
In an order issued Saturday, Kaplan gave prosecutors until Monday to address Bankman-Fried’s concerns.
“Court expects all lawyers to refrain from derogatory characterization of the actions and motives of their opponents”, – judge added.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Edited by Andrea Ricci
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2023-01-29 10:17:17
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”