Sam Bankman-lawyer Fried’s are getting close to a deal with U.S. prosecutors on new bail conditions for the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, who has been charged and is trying to convince a judge that he should stay free.
In a letter that Bankman-lawyer, Fried’s Christian Everdell, sent to the federal court in Manhattan on Friday night, he said that both sides thought they were “close to a resolution” and expected to formally propose new rules by next week.
Bankman-Fried, who is 31 years old, is accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to cover losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund and making large illegal political donations to buy influence in Washington, D.C. His trial is set for October 2.
At a hearing on March 10, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said again that he was worried that Bankman-electronic Fried’s communications with other people might go over the limits of his $250 million bail package. This week, there were talks about bail.
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Bankman-bail Fried’s can’t be changed without Kaplan’s permission.
The former billionaire has pleaded not guilty to eight charges, but he hasn’t been brought to court on four of them yet. He is forced to live with his parents in Palo Alto, California, because he broke the law.
In January, prosecutors brought up the possibility of witness tampering after Bankman-Fried tried to get in touch with John Ray, who became FTX’s CEO after the company filed for bankruptcy in November, and an in-house lawyer.
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried have said that their client was only trying to help and not get in the way.
At the hearing on March 10, both prosecutors and defense lawyers suggested that Bankman-Fried get a flip phone that can’t connect to the internet and a basic laptop that can’t do much.
Kaplan thought that was too kind. He said that Bankman-Fried was “creative” and might be able to “find a way around” the rules without getting caught.
In the letter from Friday, Everdell also asked the judge for permission to let Bankman-Fried use a laptop to get to some FTX materials while the case is going on.
Everdell said that a lawyer or paralegal would keep an eye on Bankman-Use Fried’s laptop and take it away when he was done. The laptop wouldn’t have any monitoring software or restrictions on Internet access.