In a letter to Judge Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and his prosecution team yesterday requested that Sam Bankman- Fried (SBF) be subject to further restrictions. His behaviour was found to be inappropriate and a cause for concern.
The attorneys proposed that SBF be banned from using cell phones, tablets, computers, and the internet with full access. They also want his email and cell phone monitored using pen registers and require communication with his counsel only through Zoom. Upon request by the Probation Officer on suspicion of violating these set conditions, SBF is to submit his electronic devices.
During an earlier court hearing last Thursday, prosecutors claimed that SBF contacted a potential witness at trial without the presence of his counsel or the witness’s counsel. The information was obtained through the data on the pen registrar on SBF’s Gmail account. They also discovered that SBF used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access the internet on two occasions.
SBF’s counsel told the court that he used the VPN to gather web content needed for his defence for his legal battles and to watch the NFL playoff games and the Super Bowl.
According to the pretrial supervision by the court, VPN use is problematic because it hides online activities and transactions from the government. It can be used for illegal activities and to circumvent monitoring. The court considered it shortsighted to have only placed restrictions on application usage and permitted different parties to propose a solution.
Sam Bankman-Fried is the former CEO of FTX, an American cryptocurrency exchange. Problems arose for the company when CoinDesk published a report on its sister firm, Alameda Research. The report revealed that Alameda’s capital reserves were mainly in FTT, FTX’s native token, and not fiat currency or another cryptocurrency.
Following that report, Binance, a rival exchange, sold all their FTT holdings totalling $580 million, causing a ripple effect on the price of FTT and triggering a major sell-off from other users and companies. FTX halted withdrawals on their website and mobile application because of the sudden pressure.
On November 11, FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. SBF stepped down as the company’s CEO, and John Ray III took over. Sam Fried was extradited to the U.S. in December to face fraud charges.
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