Sam Bankman-Fried’s Internet Use of Secrets While Detained Could Land Him in Jail – Blockchain News, Opinion, TV, and Jobs

On Thursday, February 16, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried had to return to Manhattan federal court in New York for the second time in two weeks, to explain in court why he continued to use the internet illegally while on bail. Bankman-Fried is currently living at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, while waiting and preparing for his upcoming trial in October. Bankman-Fried’s illegal digital behavior may now affect his bail as the government seems unable to monitor his every move online.

A federal judge displayed growing impatience Thursday with the FTX founder’s continued internet use despite previous warnings, suggesting that detention may ultimately be the only, and most effective way to prevent him from communicating on electronic devices.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has not changed the existing $250 million bail package, but he suggested the possibility that prison may be the only way to ensure Bankman-Fried will not mislead the government by using electronic devices politely. untraceable.

Kaplan notes that there may be too many devices in the Bankman-Fried family’s home that the government doesn’t even know about. And he asked prosecutors why he was “asked to release it in this electronic device park?” Kaplan alluded to prosecutors’ claims that Bankman-Fried sent encrypted messages via the SMS Signal app on January 15 to the general counsel OUR FTX.

According to prosecutors, the message said: “I would love to reconnect and see if there is a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as a resource where possible, or at least check things out with one another. I want to call right away and have a chat.”

Federal prosecutors have notified Kaplan that Bankman-Fried communications indicate he may be trying to influence witnesses with evidence against him.

Instead of immediate detention, prosecutors are now asking Kaplan to try to limit Bankman-Fried’s use of electronic devices and the internet, to keep him away from things like messaging apps. They asked to install a device monitoring program on his phone and computer.

Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos said that it would be a “drastic alternative” to banning Bankman-Fried’s use of all electronic devices, and he also added that it would be very difficult for Bankman-Fried to prepare for a trial set for October. , if it will be.

The court described Bankman-Fried as a “technologically sophisticated person, with the ability and inclination to seek solutions from narrower collateral conditions.”

Bankman-Fried has been confined under house arrest and electronic monitoring to his parents’ home in California since last December, following his arrest in the Bahamas. He was there on charges that he defrauded investors and diverted their savings to be used to fill financial gaps at another Bankman-Fried company, Alameda Research. So far he has pleaded not guilty.