Co-founder of FTX Sam Bankman Friedwho is accused of embezzling billions of dollars deposited in the cryptocurrency exchange, will be released on a $250 million personal recognition bond, a federal judge in New York ruled Thursday.
The 30-year-old appeared in court a day after his Bahamian extradition, where he was arrested on December 2. 12 following his indictment on a series of charges related to the collapse of FTX.
Bankman-Fried, wearing a dark blue suit and tan shoes, entered court with leg irons. He did not speak until the end of the hearing.
A bond is a written undertaking by the accused to appear in court on an order. In return, the Bankman-Fried camp will not be required to meet any security requirements on the bond.
The terms of the package, described by U.S. attorney Nicholas Roos as “very restrictive” and the largest pretrial bond he could remember, were agreed to by federal prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, @CNBC reported.
The “$250 million personal recognition bond signed by Mr. Bankman-Fried and co-signed by his parents … will be secured by parental involvement at their home” in Palo Alto, Calif., the office spokesperson said. from U.S. Attorney Nicholas Biase in a statement after the court appearance.
Bankman-Fried’s parents, both Stanford law professors, were in the courtroom.
Judge Gabriel Gorenstein said Bankman-Fried will demand “strict” supervision after he is released to his parents’ California home.
He must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, submit to mental health counseling and will be restricted to the Northern District of California, subject to bail conditions.
Bankman-Fried will also be barred from opening new lines of credit pending trial.
He was charged in the Southern District of New York in eight counties, including defraud FTX lenders and customers, money laundering and campaign finance. He was also charged last week by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission with defrauding investors and enriching his private crypto hedge fund Alameda Research.
The alleged fraud against customers began in 2019, the Justice Department said. Gretchen Lowe, acting director of the enforcement division of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, estimated customer losses at more than $8 billion.
U.S. attorney Damian Williams called Bankman-Fried’s actions with FTX “one of the greatest financial frauds in American history.”
Bankman-Fried hailed as a crypto genius with FTX once reportedly valued at a whopping $32 billionuntil the the exchange collapsed in November.
He said Axios at the end of November, he had $100,000 left in his bank account the last time he checked.
Thursday’s development came a day after a federal prosecutor in New York announced two of the Bankman-Fried’s main business partners — a co-founder of FTX and former CEO of hedge fund Alameda Research — pleaded guilty to fraud.
Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang are cooperating with prosecutors, the New York South U.S. Attorney said in a video statement.
Bankman-Fried’s next hearing is set for January 1. 3, 2023.
Gorenstein told him that if he did not show up or if he jumped bail, a warrant would be issued for his arrest. The judge asked Bankman-Fried if he understood.
“Yes, I know that,” he said.
Emily Burke contributed.
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