Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried wants his close friends to visit him at his parents’ home without undergoing security checks.
On July 13 Bankman-Fried’s lawyers submitted a letter to New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, seeking an exemption for court-approved visitors from the security measures mandated in his bail conditions.
The current bail conditions mandate the presence of a security guard at the residence to screen visitors for electronic devices and the requirement for visitors to sign an electronic visitor log.
However, Bankman-Fried’s legal team argued that only his lawyers and employees of his contracted law firm are exempt from these checks. They urged the court to extend the same privileges to visitors approved by the court.
The submitted list, which prosecutors reviewed without objection, comprises “close friends and colleagues of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents and household help that regularly visit the house,” as stated in the letter. The lawyers filed the list under seal, emphasizing that the privacy and safety of those mentioned far surpass any presumption of access to the list.
Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions, set by Judge Kaplan, currently restrict his access to a laptop, allowing him to access only court-approved websites, including selected news sites and YouTube. He also has a phone with no internet access, limiting its functionality to basic calls and texts.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers affirmed that individuals on the list know his bail conditions and will adhere to them, including the prohibition on sharing electronic devices with him.
Bankman-Fried’s ongoing legal troubles
The former FTX CEO faces multiple criminal charges for misappropriating billions of dollars in FTX customer funds and alleged questionable political donations.
Initially scheduled to begin on October 2, the trial for the 13 charges against Bankman-Fried was split, with five charges now scheduled for a second trial on March 11, 2024.
In December 2022, Bankman-Fried posted a $250 million bond and was subsequently placed under house arrest in Palo Alto, California, with location monitoring. Furthermore, he was required to surrender his passport.
However, a few days later, purported sleuths allegedly identified transactions involving Bankman-Fried cashing out approximately $700,000 on a cryptocurrency exchange in Seychelles.
Bankman-Fried has vehemently denied involvement in these transactions or any others linked to him or FTX.
