US prosecutors have asked a New York judge to ban Sam Bankman-Fried from communicating with former FTX colleagues and from using encrypted messaging apps.
In a letter sent to the court on Friday, the government claimed Bankman-Fried was in “direct communication” with the general counsel of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange via the Signal messaging app. his former boss.
The letter does not name a general counsel, but former Sullivan & Cromwell attorney Line Miller, who joined FTX US in 2021, is in that role.
Bankman-Fried alleges Miller and Sullivan & Cromwell forced him to file for bankruptcy, which they deny. Retained as attorney.
Bankman-Fried wrote in a January 12 blog: [Miller] A major party who strongly armed and intimidated them into appointing FTX’s chief executive officer of their own choosing (including the solvent entity of FTX US), who subsequently filed for Chapter 11, and the debtor business I chose S&C as my body’s attorney.
Bankman-Fried, who was extradited from the Bahamas and released on bail in December after facing eight criminal charges in the U.S., contacted FTX general counsel on Jan. 15 via the Signal app and email. said.
Prosecutors allege he wrote: “I really wish there was a way we could reconnect so that we could have a constructive relationship and use each other as a resource if possible.” I want to see if… Employee.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Sassoon said Friday: agree with the defendant. ”
Sassoon added that the government has already interviewed FTX’s general counsel “who has direct knowledge of the defendant’s actions.”
Sassoon said Bankman-Fried was in contact with FTX’s general counsel leading up to the company’s bankruptcy in November to liquidate its investment in FTX’s trading affiliate, Alameda, so that it could be withdrawn by the exchange’s customers. said he ordered to do so.
She also asked Judge Lewis Kaplan to amend Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions to prohibit his use of encrypted or ephemeral messaging platforms, including Signal. She alleged that the defendant used such apps to hide communications from law enforcement and set her Signal and Slack messages to disappear after 30 days on FTX.
The government said it learned from Alameda’s former boss Caroline EllisonHe agreed to a plea bargain with prosecutors last month and is expected to testify against Bankman-Fried.
Sassoon said the automatic removal of FTX and Alameda’s Slack and Signal communications “hindered a government investigation.”
A lawyer for Miller declined to comment. Bankman-Fried’s attorneys told the court on Saturday that the government had tried to portray its client in the “worst possible way” and challenged prosecutors’ characterization of the defendant’s correspondence. Judge Kaplan ordered the full exchanges to be submitted to the court.
