- The prosecutor’s office is pushing to revoke bail in the Bankman-Fried case. He was accused of trying to discredit a prosecution witness.
- The DOJ earlier said it turned over to the NYT the personal diary of ex-CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison.
- The court will decide on the defendant’s pretrial detention on Aug. 3.
At another hearing in the trial of former FTX exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Danielle Sassoon, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, asked that bail be revoked, Reuters reported. She accused the suspect of leaking the personal diary of ex-CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Allison and cooperating with the media.
Sassoon said that in this way, Bankman-Fried was trying to discredit one of the main witnesses in the case. Ellison herself directly pleaded guilty back in December 2022 and is actively cooperating with the investigation.
Assistant prosecutors said authorities “trusted” Bankman-Fried for too long and he “crossed the line” in his campaign with the media. She demanded that the $250 million bail be revoked and that the defendant be returned to jail.
In response, federal Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that all parties to the trial were prohibited from discussing the case with the press. Bankman-Fried’s attorney said during the trial that his client agrees with the requirement, but it should extend to prosecution witnesses as well.
The parties were given until Aug. 3 to discuss the situation. The court will then make a decision regarding the defendant’s pre-trial detention.
After being placed under house arrest, Sam Bankman-Fried has been banned from doing business as well as socializing with former colleagues. In January, he was caught using the messenger Signal, after which prosecutors demanded he be returned to prison.
The parties eventually reached an agreement. Bankman-Fried was allowed to communicate with former and current FTX employees, but only under the supervision of authorities.
Another change in the process
Also during the July 26, 2023 meeting, prosecutors cleared SBF of funding charges against some politicians. The decision was made as part of a plea deal with the defense, The Block reports.
In early June, the Bahamas Supreme Court allowed Bankman-Fried to challenge the deportation finding, it recalled. The ex-CEO of FTX demanded that several counts be removed from the indictment because those were not included in the original agreement. The DOJ agreed to those terms so as not to delay the trial. The indictment for funding some candidates was part of those demands.
An indictment of some candidates was part of the agreement.