Securities lawyer Andrew Stoltmann joins The Big Money Show to discuss FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s court appearance as the government tightens its crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been ordered to remain in prison, upholding a judge’s decision to send the cryptocurrency billionaire to prison on fraud charges related to the November 2022 collapse of his now-bankrupt company while he is on awaiting trial on October 3rd.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued the decision Thursday, more than a month after U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail on Aug. 11.
The bail was revoked by the judge after probable cause was presented, leading some to believe that Bankman-Fried had trampled on witnesses.
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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arrives in court as lawyers at a New York courthouse push to persuade the judge overseeing his fraud case not to send him to prison before trial. (Reuters / Eduardo Munoz / File / Fox News / Reuters Photos)
The evidence included that he shared with a New York Times reporter personal correspondence from the former managing director of his hedge fund Alameda Research, Carline Ellison.
Ellison is expected to testify against Bankman-Fried since he pleaded guilty to fraud.
The two were once romantic partners, and she wrote about being “dissatisfied and overwhelmed” with her job and “hurt/rejected” after her breakup with Bankman-Fried.
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Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison reportedly admitted to knowingly misleading lenders about the company’s financial ties to FTX. (Twitter @carolinecapital / Fox News)
On September 19, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried told the appeals court that Judge Kaplan did not believe the former billionaire had exercised his First Amendment right to speak to the press and attempt to protect his now-struggling to restore reputation.
Reuters reported that appeals court judges appeared skeptical. One said the First Amendment does not protect witness tampering, and another said revealing personal information, while publicly humiliating, could be an attempt to influence the witness’ testimony.
When it came to Bankman-Fried’s argument that the lack of internet access in the detention center hindered his preparation for trial, the appeals court judges seemed a little more open-minded.
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Bankman-Fried is charged with seven counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from FTX’s collapse. (iStock / iStock)
Before he was locked up, Bankman-Fried spent seven months with internet access at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.
“If it’s true that he intimidated witnesses, at some point he makes his own bed and sleeps in it,” said District Judge William Nardini.
Bankman-Fried is charged with seven counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from FTX’s collapse.
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Prosecutors accuse him of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customer funds to cover losses at Alameda, as well as buying luxury real estate and donating to political campaigns in the US
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Source : www.foxbusiness.com