The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a proposal in Manhattan federal court to limit the communications of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX cryptocurrency exchange, who has been indicted on 12 criminal charges of stealing billions of dollars of FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried had tested the limits of his $250m bail package by communicating in ways that could not be monitored, prompting U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to threaten to jail him.
The proposal submitted by the government and Bankman-Fried’s defense team requires Kaplan’s approval. It suggests that Bankman-Fried be allowed a flip phone or non-smartphone with no internet capability and a basic laptop with limited functions. The laptop would be restricted to specified virtual private networks, 23 websites for personal use covering news, sports, and food delivery, and websites to help Bankman-Fried prepare for his scheduled trial on 2 October. The proposed phone would be limited to voice calls and SMS text messages.
Bankman-Fried lives under house arrest with his parents, who are Stanford Law School professors, in Palo Alto, California. The proposal requires that each device carries software that periodically takes videos or photos of the user, which court officers would be allowed to review. The parents agreed to submit affidavits that they would not bring other electronic devices into their home or let their son use theirs.
Bankman-Fried had previously been accused of trying to contact possible government witnesses and using a virtual private network to watch football. The judge had expressed concerns about using electronic devices and said he did not want to set Bankman-Fried “loose in this garden of electronic devices.”
Bankman-Fried had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The proposal by the government and Bankman-Fried’s defense team addresses the judge’s concerns about Bankman-Fried’s communications while ensuring that he has access to the necessary tools to prepare for his trial. If approved by the judge, it would limit Bankman-Fried’s access to electronic devices and prevent him from communicating in ways that could not be monitored.