|
Bankman-Fried, 31, has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions
of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge
fund Alameda Research.
He has been largely confined to his parents' Palo Alto,
California, home on $250 million bond since his December 2022
arrest, but the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan now wants
him jailed for witness tampering.
Prosecutors first made their surprise request to jail the former
billionaire in a July 26 hearing, saying he "crossed a line" by
sharing former romantic partner Caroline Ellison's personal
writings with a New York Times reporter.
Ellison had been Alameda's chief executive, and is expected to
testify against Bankman-Fried after pleading guilty to fraud and
agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.
Two other former members of Bankman-Fried's inner circle entered
similar guilty pleas.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers have said prosecutors mischaracterized
his intentions in sharing Ellison's writings, arguing he wanted
to defend his reputation and had a right to speak to the press.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will decide whether Bankman-Fried
should remain free.
In the July 26 hearing, Kaplan restricted Bankman-Fried from
speaking publicly about his case, and asked both sides to
address whether jail was necessary.
The gag order has also drawn attention from news media including
the Times, which in an Aug. 2 letter to the judge said the
measure should be loosened to only restrict comments that could
interfere with a fair trial.
A July 20 article in the newspaper contained excerpts from
Ellison's personal Google documents prior to FTX's collapse.
She described being "unhappy and overwhelmed" with her job and
feeling "hurt/rejected" from her personal breakup with Bankman-Fried.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
