Key points to remember
- Sam Bankman-Fried may have tried to influence or intimidate a potential witness in the case against him.
- On January 15, he reached out to FTX US General Counsel Ryne Miller by Signal, asking him to “reconnect” and “check things out with each other.”
- Prosecutors believe that communicating with former or current employees of FTX or Alameda Research should be prohibited without an attorney present.
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By contacting FTX’s U.S. General Counsel via Signal, Sam Bankman-Fried may have been trying to influence the testimony of a potential witness — or intimidate him into not testifying at all — prosecutors say Americans.
Stricter bail conditions for SBF
Sam Bankman-Fried could see his bail conditions tighten.
Last Friday, US prosecutors Express concerns in court that the former FTX CEO may be trying to influence witnesses in the fraud case against him. They quoted a Signal message that Bankman-Fried sent to FTX’s US General Counsel Ryne Miller on January 15, in which he said, “I would really like to reconnect and see if there’s a way to us to have a constructive relationship, to use each other as resources when possible, or at least check things in with each other.
Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried’s attempt to reach out to Miller — who may have damaging information about him — was “suggestive of an effort to influence (their) potential testimony.” Even if not, they said, his contact could intimidate Miller into not coming forward or testifying. They also pointed to Bankman-Fried using Signal (an encrypted messaging app that gives users the option to automatically delete their messages) to communicate as a cause for concern.
Prosecutors therefore asked the court to prohibit Bankman-Fried from communicating with current or former employees of FTX and Alameda Research without an attorney present. Members of his family were exempt from this condition: his father, Joseph Bankman, his mother, Barbara Fried, and his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried.
They also demanded that Bankman-Fried be prevented from using Signal or any other encrypted messaging service. Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison told prosecutors that Bankman-Fried had previously instructed FTX Signal and Slack communications to automatically delete themselves within 30 days as a precaution against potential lawsuits.
Legal Advisor to Bankman-Fried responded at the request saying that prosecutors were trying to paint the disgraced crypto founder “in the worst possible light.”
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this article, the author of this article owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.
