Bankman-Fried due in courtroom as decide weighs potential gag order

starcrypto — Sam Bankman-Fried is ready to seem in a federal courtroom on Wednesday as a decide considers whether or not to bar the founding father of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency change FTX from making public statements forward of his upcoming fraud trial.

Bankman-Fried is at the moment set to go on trial in early October over fraud prices associated to the collapse of FTX. He has pleaded not responsible to claims that he stole billions from FTX clients to plug losses at his hedge fund Alameda Analysis.

In the present day’s listening to, which is ready to start at 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT), comes because the U.S. Lawyer’s workplace in Manhattan is requesting {that a} gag order be positioned on Bankman-Fried and his allies earlier than the beginning of that trial.

Prosecutors requested the ban final week after Bankman-Fried shared private Google paperwork from Caroline Ellison, the previous head of his crypto hedge fund Alameda Analysis and his ex-romantic accomplice, with reporters from The New York Occasions. Writing to U.S. District Choose Lewis Kaplan, prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of witness tampering, noting that Ellison is because of be key witness within the trial.

Bankman-Fried rejected these claims however agreed to simply accept a gag order. The protection additionally requested that the ban apply to prosecutors and doable witnesses like present FTX chief government John Ray.

In the meantime, Kaplan is eager to reassess “the adequacy and continuation” of Bankman-Fried’s present bail situations.

Following his extradition late final 12 months from the Bahamas, the place FTX was primarily based and the place he was arrested, Bankman-Fried has been largely confined to his mother and father’ dwelling in Palo Alto, California.

Prosecutors have referred to as out his conduct whereas on bail, saying in January that he tried to contact Ray and FTX’s in-house lawyer. Bankman-Fried’s attorneys have stated he was making an attempt to assist his case, not intrude.

Kaplan positioned limits on Bankman-Fried’s communications at a listening to in February however selected to not jail him.