Judge: Sam Bankman-bail-posting Fried's supporters can be identified

By CoinUnited.io Research Team

31 Jan 2023

2 min read

The federal court who heard Samuel Bankman-case Fried's has determined that the identity of two persons who helped obtain his bail can be made public.

In order to enable time for an appeal, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan postponed his judgment until February 7. The judge stated the hold may be prolonged for another week if an appeal notice was submitted before that time. This would give time to make a request with the appellate court to further suspend the ruling.

After posting $250 million in bond in December, Bankman-Fried was freed from federal custody with the help of two unnamed sureties. Both the $500,000 and $200,000 bonds were guaranteed by unknown parties. Even Bankman-parents Fried's were willing to put up their Palo Alto, California, security as collateral.

Media outlets, led by Bloomberg, filed motions asking the court to unseal the identities of the non-family sureties because they felt they were being unfairly withheld.

On Monday, Judge Kaplan issued a decision granting the applications "for the limited purpose of claiming the public's claimed right of access" to the identities, but finding little evidence to support either side of the claims.

Bankman-attorneys Fried's had maintained that keeping the identities hidden was necessary to protect their clients from harassment if they were made public.

For the judge, "the opposing reasons are not sufficiently strong to rebut even that presumption," and "the information at issue is entitled only to weak presumption of access."

According to Kaplan, the privacy interests of the signatories were not at risk, and there was no risk of hampering police enforcement. By signing the individual bonds, he said, "the non-parental bail sureties have joined willingly into a widely publicized criminal case."

But because the "issue here is unusual and an appeal is expected," the judge said he would stay his ruling for the time being.

Prosecutors said in a letter filed on Monday that Bankman-Fried had attempted to delay the FTX bankruptcy proceedings in the United States in order to appease foreign authorities to whom he had transferred FTX assets.

According to the letter, Bankman-Fried expressed optimism that foreign regulators would be more lenient with him and might "permit him to regain control of FTX." Gary Wang, the former chief technology officer of FTX and a cooperating government witness, reported that Bankman-Fried made this statement to him.

The prosecution has requested that the court bar Bankman-Fried from using encrypted messaging and limit his interaction with prospective witnesses (current and former FTX workers) without the presence of his counsel.

After posting $250 million in bond in December, Bankman-Fried was freed from federal custody with the help of two unnamed sureties. Both the $500,000 and $200,000 bonds were guaranteed by unknown parties. Even Bankman-parents Fried's were willing to put up their Palo Alto, California, security as collateral.

Media outlets, led by Bloomberg, filed motions asking the court to unseal the identities of the non-family sureties because they felt they were being unfairly withheld.

On Monday, Judge Kaplan issued a decision granting the applications "for the limited purpose of claiming the public's claimed right of access" to the identities, but finding little evidence to support either side of the claims.

Bankman-attorneys Fried's had maintained that keeping the identities hidden was necessary to protect their clients from harassment if they were made public.

For the judge, "the opposing reasons are not sufficiently strong to rebut even that presumption," and "the information at issue is entitled only to weak presumption of access."

According to Kaplan, the privacy interests of the signatories were not at risk, and there was no risk of hampering police enforcement. By signing the individual bonds, he said, "the non-parental bail sureties have joined willingly into a widely publicized criminal case."

But because the "issue here is unusual and an appeal is expected," the judge said he would stay his ruling for the time being.

Prosecutors said in a letter filed on Monday that Bankman-Fried had attempted to delay the FTX bankruptcy proceedings in the United States in order to appease foreign authorities to whom he had transferred FTX assets.

According to the letter, Bankman-Fried expressed optimism that foreign regulators would be more lenient with him and might "permit him to regain control of FTX." Gary Wang, the former chief technology officer of FTX and a cooperating government witness, reported that Bankman-Fried made this statement to him.

The prosecution has urged the court to prevent Bankman-Fried from communicating in encrypted form and to limit his communication with prospective witnesses who are former and present FTX workers.

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