Sam Bankman-Fried Continued Bail Restriction Until February 21

Key Points:

• Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States extended a prohibition on Sam Bankman-Fried’s ability to communicate with staff members of businesses he formerly owned.
• Both parties were given until February 13 to provide an explanation as to how they could be certain that Bankman-Fried would not erase electronic messages. Kaplan stated that the limits would be in force until February 21.

According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan extended an injunction at a hearing on Thursday to prohibit former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) from contacting employees of companies he once controlled while out on bail awaiting trial on fraud charges.

The judge further prohibited Bankman-Fried from using messaging services like Signal, which allows users to auto-delete conversations, as a condition of his release on a $250 million bail.

Employees of the controlled companies contacted and used encrypted messaging technology, these bail restrictions will last until February 21, and both parties have until February 13 to explain how they have determined that SBF will not delete the electronic messages.

Kaplan said at the hearing:

“I am far less interested in the defendant’s convenience… There is still snail-mail and there is still email and there are all kinds of ways to communicate that don’t present the same risks.”

On January 3, Bankman-Fried entered a not-guilty plea to eight criminal accusations, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and was accused by the prosecution of defrauding investors and inflicting losses of billions of dollars. If found guilty, he could get a sentence of up to 115 years in jail, however, the court would ultimately decide the punishment depending on a number of circumstances.

Prior to the news on February 1, Judge Lewis Kaplan issued a temporary injunction prohibiting SBF from contacting any current or former employees of FTX or its hedge fund Alameda Research.

On February 7, SBF’s legal team and prosecutors reached an agreement to amend bail conditions regarding SBF’s use of electronic communications. In a letter motion response on February 8, the judge denied SBF’s request to relax restrictions on his communications in the conditions of his bail.

Check out our other SBF article for Exposes FTX Collapse.

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