Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, appeared in federal court Wednesday as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sought to detain him before his criminal trial in October. The DOJ alleges Bankman-Fried has attempted to tamper with witnesses, citing his sharing of documents with the New York Times to discredit former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.
It is the government’s view that no set of release conditions can secure the safety of the community, said Danielle Sassoon, with the prosecution. She also noted that Bankman-Fried had sent more than 100 emails to reporters and had more than 100 phone calls with a single Times reporter, and that the DOJ believes he was the source of a previous article about Ellison.
Mark Cohen, an attorney for Bankman-Fried, argued that remanding him to jail would make it more difficult to organize the defense. Judge Lewis Kaplan, of the Southern District of New York, declined to jail Bankman-Fried immediately, but set out a rapid schedule for both the prosecution and the defense to make formal written submissions on the matter.
The judge ended the hearing by warning Bankman-Fried to take the matters seriously. Bankman-Fried is currently set to go on trial in October on various charges, including securities and commodities fraud.