United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan is considering modifying FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions, but only after attorneys further tighten the restrictions on Bankman-Fried’s access to technology.
Kaplan said he’s still not convinced that the founder of bankrupt crypto trading platform FTX wouldn’t be able to circumvent the more-restrictive bail conditions that were filed last week.
He added that he is not convinced that the founder of the bankrupt crypto trading platform FTX wouldn’t be able to circumvent the more-restrictive bail conditions that were filed last week.
“If he’s determined and inventive, I suspect he’s very inventive and technologically savvy,” Kaplan said in court Friday. “He could find a way around it and conceivably not get caught.”
Bankman-Fried, who did not attend Friday’s hearing, is currently under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, Calif. He is released on a $250 million bond while awaiting trial on fraud and conspiracy charges. Bankman-Fried’s attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Kaplan voiced concerns on Friday over how to handle the possibility of Bankman-Fried using other people’s devices if they’re brought into his California residence. He also said Bankman-Fried could simply use a flip phone to call someone to express what he would otherwise send in an email or text.
Judge Kaplan asked the defense to submit a bail modification order that would tighten the restrictions and address his concerns.
Kaplan also said he would sign an order modifying the conditions to allow Bankman-Fried access to an FTX database, but that order would also need further restrictions on what she could do with the information.
Defense attorney Christian Everdell hinted the defense would submit new filings in the coming days.
Prosecutors said they are making good progress through the discovery process, but there is still a lot of material to turn over to the defense team, including data from a warrant for approximately 30 Google accounts of Bankman-Fried and other FTX and Alameda employees.