Federal Prosecutors in New York Call for the Incarceration of Sam Bankman-Fried

Federal prosecutors have filed a request to revoke the bail of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, in a Manhattan court on Friday. The prosecutors claim that Bankman-Fried has violated the terms of his release and has attempted to tamper with witnesses.

“The defendant, despite being explicitly prohibited, has continuously engaged in actions to corruptly influence witnesses and obstruct a fair trial through public harassment and shaming,” stated the prosecutors.

If the request is granted by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, Bankman-Fried could be sent back to jail, months after being extradited from the Bahamas, and prior to his scheduled trial date in October. Bankman-Fried, who saw his crypto company go bankrupt last year, is facing multiple charges of fraud and money laundering for his involvement in the collapse of the multibillion-dollar exchange.

A federal prosecutor argued in court on Wednesday that “no set of release conditions can guarantee the safety of the community.”

The prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s legal team convened in federal court on Wednesday following the leak of his former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison’s, private diaries to a New York Times reporter. Bankman-Fried is prohibited from accessing conventional smartphones and has limited internet access as part of his bail conditions.

The federal prosecutors claimed that Bankman-Fried’s sole intention behind sharing Ellison’s diary was to intimidate her.

Ellison, who formerly held a top executive position at Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges and is cooperating with the government’s case against Bankman-Fried.

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