Sam Bankman-Fried Heads Back To Jail After Bail Revoked
FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried is headed back to jail after the judge in the case revoked his bail over alleged witness intimidation, after he showed a journalist from the NY Times private writings from his ex-girlfriend and business partner, Caroline Ellison, and used a VPN in violation of a previous order not to.
The 31-year-old Bankman-Fried was remanded directly into custody, and will remain in a New York federal detention center until his trial begins on Oct. 2.
Late last month the DOJ sought to have SBF's bail revoked over the leaked diary, and allegedly used the Signal app to obstruct the investigation, as the app auto-deletes content after a period of time.
John Reed Stark, former US SEC's Office of Internet Enforcement Chief, suggested that Judge Lewis Kaplan could view SBF’s actions as an effort to improperly influence witnesses and choose to either make further modifications to his bail conditions or revoke his bail entirely. Obviously, Kaplan chose the latter.
"The documents are in part personal and intimate. They are personally oriented, not business oriented. There's something that someone who has been in a relationship would be unlikely to share with anyone except to hurt and frighten the subject," said Judge Kaplan, adding "In view of the evidence, my conclusion is that there is probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice under Section 1512(b)."
Judge Kaplan: He subscribed from the Bahamas and used a VPN as if he were in the Bahamas when he was in Palo Alto and could have watched it on public TV. It shows the mindset. All things considered I am going to revoke bail.
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) August 11, 2023
BREAKING: Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) Will Go To Jail - Bail Revoked
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) August 11, 2023
SBF will go to jail ahead of his October trial on various fraud and conspiracy charges.
More information to come pic.twitter.com/BPFHsquDmO
Click into this Twitter thread from Inner City Press for the blow-by-blow:
OK - now US v. Bankman-Fried hearing on possible remand of SBF to jail for intimidating witnesses, including leaking Caroline Ellison's Google Docs (still sealed) to the NYT. Inner City Press moved to unseal https://t.co/wkt4FqxJGD & will live tweet, thread below pic.twitter.com/OXW9z4JWsj
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) August 11, 2023
Maybe SBF will hit the gym?
FTX 🏋️♀️ CORPORATE GYM pic.twitter.com/LuuuofFJDA
— Win Smart, CFA (@WinfieldSmart) December 22, 2022
