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Bankman-Fried, a former billionaire, has lived mainly under
house arrest at his parents' Palo Alto, California, home since
his December 2022 extradition from the Bahamas.
His bail, which includes a $250 million bond, became an issue
after the New York Times on July 20 published an article
containing excerpts from his former romantic partner Caroline
Ellison's personal Google documents prior to FTX's collapse.
Bankman-Fried, 31, acknowledged sharing the documents with a
Times reporter. The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan said
that crossed the line, and that Bankman-Fried's efforts to
intimidate witnesses amounted to witness tampering.
"[T]he defendant certainly has the right to speak and defend
himself to the press," prosecutors said in a letter to U.S.
District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
"What the defendant may not do, and what he has now done
repeatedly, is seek to corruptly influence witnesses and
interfere with a fair trial through attempted public harassment
and shaming," prosecutors added.
A spokesperson for Bankman-Fried declined to comment. His
lawyers have until Aug. 1 to respond to the government's letter.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of
dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his Alameda
Research hedge fund, where Ellison was chief executive.
Prosecutors first made their surprise request to detain Bankman-Fried
before his Oct. 2 trial at a Wednesday hearing, where Kaplan
barred Bankman-Fried from discussing the case.
His lawyer said at Wednesday's hearing that Bankman-Fried's
communications with journalists were simply a means to protect
his reputation.
Prosecutors had in January accused Bankman-Fried of seeking to
influence the testimony of an FTX lawyer.
In writings cited by the Times, Ellison described being "unhappy
and overwhelmed" with her job and feeling "hurt/rejected" from
her breakup with Bankman-Fried.
Ellison pleaded guilty to fraud charges and is expected to
testify against Bankman-Fried at trial.
She said in court last December that Bankman-Fried and other FTX
executives received billions of dollars in hidden loans from
Alameda.
Two former FTX executives, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, have also
pleaded guilty over FTX's collapse and agreed to cooperate with
prosecutors.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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