Three men in a car recently drove into a metal barricade outside of the house of FTX co-founder Samuel Bankman-Fried’s parents, according to court papers filed by his lawyers.
(Bloomberg) — Three men in a car recently drove into a metal barricade outside of the house of FTX co-founder Samuel Bankman-Fried’s parents, according to court papers filed by his lawyers.
“When the security guard on duty confronted them, the men said something to the effect of: ‘You won’t be able to keep us out,”’ the lawyers wrote. They drove away before the security guard could get the license plate, they said.
The incident underscores the need to keep secret the identities of two people willing to put up money to secure Bankman-Fried’s bond, the lawyers said.
Bankman-Fried, 30, was charged with orchestrating a yearslong fraud in which he used billions of dollars of FTX customer funds for personal expenses and high-risk bets through the exchange’s sister trading house, Alameda Research. The cryptocurrency exchange collapsed into bankruptcy.
He was released on a $250 million bail package, which required two people — not his parents — with “considerable” assets to also put up security. The crypto entrepreneur had asked the judge to keep the names of those people secret to protect them from potential harassment. Media organizations have asked the judge to make the names public. They will remain confidential until the judge rules on the request.
“Given the notoriety of this case and the extraordinary media attention it is receiving, it is reasonable to assume that the non-parent sureties will also face significant privacy and safety concerns if their identities are disclosed,” the lawyers said.
Bankman-Fried’s personal recognizance bond was secured by the equity in his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, where he currently lives.
In a separate filing, the lawyers said one of the unidentified people had agreed to put up $200,000 as security, while the other will put up $500,000 as part of the bail package. The judge approved the arrangement, which was agreed to between prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s legal team.
The case is US v Bankman-Fried, 22-cr-673, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
–With assistance from Bob Van Voris.
(Updates with details in fifth paragraph.)
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