Bankman-Fried is fighting to stay out of jail after U.S.
District Judge Lewis Kaplan raised concerns last month that the
31-year-old former billionaire wunderkind was testing the limits
of his $250 million bail package by communicating in ways that
could not be monitored.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged Bankman-Fried with
perpetrating an "epic" fraud by stealing billions of dollars in
FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda Research, his hedge
fund.
They have also said Bankman-Fried made tens of millions of
dollars in illegal political donations to buy influence in
Washington, D.C.
Late last month, prosecutors added new fraud and conspiracy
charges against Bankman-Fried over the November collapse of his
now-bankrupt exchange, meaning he now faces 12 charges. He had
pleaded not guilty to the original eight charges in January.
In a letter to Kaplan on Wednesday, Bankman-Fried's lawyers said
they may need more time than expected to review the evidence and
prepare a defense in light of the new charges.
They also said prosecutors had not yet handed over evidence from
electronic devices belonging to former Alameda CEO Caroline
Ellison and former FTX technology chief Gary Wang.
Ellison and Wang, once among Bankman-Fried's closest associates,
have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government.
Last Friday, prosecutors proposed letting Bankman-Fried have a
flip phone with no internet capability and a basic laptop with
limited functions, but be forbidden from using other electronic
communication devices while on bail.
Prosecutors, defense lawyers and Kaplan began revisiting Bankman-Fried's
bail conditions after the government said he sought to contact
FTX Chief Executive John Ray and an in-house lawyer in what
prosecutors described as a possible attempt to tamper with
witnesses.
Defense lawyers said Bankman-Fried was trying to help, not
interfere.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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