US Judge Denies Bankman-Request Fried's for Bail Adjustment

A combined plea to change Sam Bankman-bail Fried's terms so that he could use specific chat apps was denied by a federal judge.

According to Southern District of New York U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, the application is “denied without prejudice” before a hearing on Thursday. On Monday, a lawyer representing the former CEO of the FTX exchange asked that he be permitted to use WhatsApp while using surveillance software and several other non-encrypted communications services.

The lawyer, Mark Cohen, said that the adjustments that would have enabled Bankman-Fried to utilize apps like FaceTime, Zoom, email, and others had been accepted by the prosecution. He would've been permitted to use WhatsApp as well, but the chats would be recorded and logged. Under the suggested changes, he wouldn't be permitted to utilize Signal or comparable applications. Cohen stated that the prosecution would “withdraw its request to remove the asset transfer condition” and seek for Thursday's trial to be postponed if the judge gave the go-ahead. The judge announced that the court proceedings would go on. At 10:30 a.m., the hearing is scheduled to start. Thursday, ET.

The judge decided not to instantly implement new court orders that defense attorneys claimed prosecution had did agree to, such as the exclusion of specific people from a suggested no-contact list and authorization for Bankman-Fried to make audio and video calls. The assertions, set for Thursday morning, will go forward as planned, the judge decided.

An attorney for Bankman-Fried did not respond through a spokeswoman.

The trial was set up as a result of the prosecution's claim that on January 15, Bankman-Fried sent out an encrypted file to the FTX US legal advisor using the Signal texting app. Prosecutors informed Kaplan that Bankman-Fried may be attempting to persuade a witness to testify against him based on his conversations. Bankman's-attorneys Fried's pleaded with Kaplan last week to read the letter “in a benign sense,” but he claimed their case was unpersuasive.

The general counsel was unquestionably an eyewitness to a certain events that are likely to be in question in the case, and Bankman-Fried may receive a lengthy prison sentence if found guilty, the court added, suggesting a possible motive.

According to Kaplan, accusations that Bankman-Fried instructed staff members to use application forms whose communications could be wiped away and the fact that he requested a telephone instead of a written message from the legal advisor both raise the issue of whether additional steps should be taken to limit his actions.

The judge stated that he had to determine whether additional safeguards should be put in place to ensure the security of the community from Bankman-attempts Fried's to sway or interfere with key witnesses.

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