There shall be no extra home-cooked meals for Sam Bankman-Fried.
The fallen crypto king has been holed up at his dad and mom’ house in Palo Alto since pleading not responsible to fraud prices stemming from FTX‘s collapse. However this afternoon in a Manhattan courtroom, a decide revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail, ordering him to go on to jail earlier than his trial scheduled to start on October 2.
“My conclusion is there’s possible trigger to imagine the defendant tried to tamper with witnesses not less than twice,” mentioned Choose Lewis A. Kaplan throughout his ruling.
In response to CNBC, courtroom marshals took Bankman-Fried into custody after the listening to. He eliminated his jacket, tie, and footwear and emptied his pockets. A reporter for CNBC, who was within the courtroom, mentioned that Bankman Fried’s mom had her face buried in her arms in the course of the ruling.
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Accused of witness tampering
Prosecutors alleged that Bankman-Fried shared emails from his former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, with The New York Occasions to intimidate her earlier than his trial in October. Additionally they mentioned that Bankman-Fried leaked info to different journalists, together with Michael Lewis, who’s writing a e book about FTX.
Final January, prosecutors argued that Bankman-Fried was sending messages to a former FTX govt who was a possible witness within the case, based on the Occasions. Additionally they mentioned Bankman-Fried was utilizing VPN to entry the web and sending encrypted messages on Sign.
Choose Lewis responded by banning Bankman-Fried from contacting present or former staff. However, the order was not obeyed, and Bankman-Pal will now need to prep for his trial from a jail cell.
At press time, it was not clear the place Bankman-Pal can be held. Prosecutors requested a jail in Putnam, New York, so he might entry a laptop computer with web. However the nearest jail to the courthouse is the Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn, which has restricted web entry for prisoners.