the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, pleaded not guilty to eight felony counts in New York yesterday, including conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering. After extradition from the Bahamas in December, he was released on a $250M bail bond secured against his parents’ California home, where he was court-ordered to stay. A trial is set for October.
The 30-year-old is accused of secretly using billions of FTX deposits to cover losses at his separate investment firm, Alameda Research. Once valued around $32B, the exchange filed for bankruptcy in November after news it was illicitly transferring funds caused a surge in withdrawals it couldn’t cover. Two of Bankman-Fried’s closest former colleagues, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, pleaded guilty in December as they opted to cooperate with prosecutors.
The bail, $250 million, is reportedly one of the largest in history and was secured by Bankman-Fried’s parents and two wealthy and perhaps politically connected individuals. The judge asked that the bond be signed by two other people of “considerable means,” one of whom can’t be a relative. The two people haven’t signed on yet but intend to do so by the Jan. 5 deadline, his lawyers said in the letter.
Asking to withhold the names of sureties is unusual, according to Mark Kasten, a lawyer in Philadelphia who represents corporations and individuals in government probes, antitrust matters and white-collar litigation.
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“It’s not typical, but given the facts of this case — including that Bankman-Fried’s parents have apparently received threats to their safety — I’m not surprised that counsel made the request,” Kasten said. “Public access to court proceedings is important. Its important to many judges and they take that right of public access seriously. So the court would have to weigh that interest against the interests of the guarantors.”
In the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted more than a year ago of sexually trafficking young girls, her lawyers sought to hide the names of people willing to sign a bond to win her release from jail before trial. Bankman-Fried is being represented by some of the same lawyers.
Of course he made bail.
How have politicians (both sides of the aisle) with salaries of $174k become multi millionaires?
Insider Trading. Nancy was the worst offender and made sure it stays legal … for them.
10 percent for the big guy Joe thanks to Hunter
insider trading for pelosi
Thew news cycle of late has been very generous.
Santos, SBF, and Kohberger. Three wretched individuals.
c’mon… he’s not that bad…
It’s not like he posts mean tweets…
or bought a social media company to promote free speech….
People like that are the real villains.
Dead people voting in six swing states is pretty villainous to me.
Enough to change results?
Show me the verified numbers, not your gut feel.
“or bought a social media company to promote free speech”
Found the sucker on the bottom of the ponzi pyramid.