The legal team behind former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has asked a court to expunge certain information about the people acting as collateral for his $250 million bail, citing threats against his family.
In a letter dated January 3 presented to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bankman-Fried's legal team requested that the court order "names and other identifying information" of two surety bonds are not disclosed to the public and was removed from the bonds once they were signed on January 5. Mark Cohen of the law firm Cohen & Gresser said if people's personal information became available, they could be subject to similar harassment to the parents of the former FTX CEO. , Barbara Fried, and Joseph Bankman.
โIn recent weeks, the parents of Mr. Bankman-Fried have become the targets of intense media scrutiny, harassment and threats,โ Cohen said. โAmong other things, Mr. Bankman-Fried's parents have received a constant stream of threatening correspondence, including communications expressing a desire for physical harm. Consequently, there is serious cause for concern that the two additional collaterals will face similar intrusions into their privacy, as well as threats and harassment if their names appear unedited on their bonds or if their identities are otherwise publicly disclosed."
fried and banker secured the release of his son He was released on bail in December on $250 million bond, using the equity in his Palo Alto home in which Bankman-Fried is currently under house arrest. Cohen cited legal precedent that a lack of public disclosure about others willing to financially back SBF would "preserve higher values" and not hamper the court's judicial power:
โIf the remaining two collaterals are publicly identified, they are likely to be subject to media scrutiny and potentially subject to harassment, despite having no substantial connection to the case. Consequently, the privacy and security guarantees are 'countervailing factors' that significantly outweigh the presumption of public access to the very limited information in questionโ.
Crypto Twitter users speculated on the identities of the unidentified collaterals, throwing he mentions names like Kevin O'Leary and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. A He suggested Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao may have helped Bankman-Fried, an unlikely conclusion given the two crypto head clashes on social media amid the FTX bankruptcy.
Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States following his arrest in the Bahamas in December. He is expected to appear in court in person on January 3 to allegedly enter a not guilty plea on the criminal charges, which included wire fraud, securities fraud and violations of campaign finance laws.
Bankman-Fried to plead not guilty in FTX fraud case https://t.co/Od33DFnwBz pic.twitter.com/gNFZiEpjGV
โ Reuters (@Reuters) January 3, 2023
Related: Crypto Twitter confused by SBF's $250 million bail and return to luxury
FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison have He has already pleaded guilty to related charges. and began to cooperate with authorities. Ellison too offered a statement in December acknowledging financial ties between FTX and Alameda at the center of prosecutors' case against SBF.
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