Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried can post a $250 million (nearly Rs.2,070 billion) bond and live at his parents’ home in California while awaiting trial on charges of defrauding investors and looted client deposits on its FTX trading platform. a judge said on Thursday.
US Assistant Attorney Nicolas Roos told US District Court in Manhattan that Bankman-Fried, 30, “committed fraud of epic proportions.” Roos proposed strict bail conditions, including $250 million bail and house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.
A key reason for posting bail was that Bankman-Fried had agreed not to extradite, Roos said.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein approved the bond and also approved the house arrest proposal. He also said Bankman-Fried must obtain an electronic surveillance bracelet before leaving the Manhattan courthouse.
Bankman-Fried wore a suit and tie in court and sat between his attorneys. Behind him sat two US Marshals.
Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas last week, was flown to New York late Wednesday after deciding not to contest his extradition.
While he was on the air, the US Attorney in Manhattan announced that two of Bankman-Fried’s closest business associates were also charged and had secretly pleaded guilty.
Carolyn Ellison, 28, former CEO of Bankman-Fried’s trading company Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, 29, co-founder FTXpleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodity fraud.
US Attorney Damian Williams said in a video statement that both are cooperating with investigators and have agreed to help with any prosecution. He warned others who allowed the alleged fraud to come to light.
“If you have been involved in wrongdoing at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to preempt it,” he said. “We move fast and our patience is not eternal.”
Prosecutors and regulators allege that Bankman-Fried was at the center of multiple illegal schemes to use client and investor funds for personal gain. If convicted on all charges, he could face decades in prison.
In a series of interviews prior to his arrest, Bankman-Fried said he never intended to defraud anyone.
Bankman-Fried is accused of using money illegally taken from FTX clients to facilitate deals at Alameda, spending lavishly on real estate and earning millions of dollars in campaign donations to US politicians.
Founded in 2019, FTX has quickly taken the crypto investing phenomenon to great heights, becoming one of the world’s largest digital currency exchanges. Seeking customers outside of the tech world, it hired comic book actor and writer Larry David to appear in a TV ad that ran during the Super Bowl hyping crypto as the next big thing.
However, Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire abruptly collapsed in early November as customers en masse withdrew deposits amid reports questioning some of its financial arrangements.
