Sam Bankman-Fried Wants Rights To Access FTX’s Crypto

By Kevin • January 30, 2023 3:53 pm • Comments

It looks like the former CEO of FTX is now trying to get the rights to access FTX’s crypto wallets even though he is still in a fraud trial.

Sam Bankman-Fried has previously only been released on bail and is still facing multiple charges which include money laundering and wire fraud.

He still continues to plead not guilty despite having multiple associated coworkers who plead guilty and is being accused of unauthorized transactions from FTX wallets.

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In response to those allegations, he stated that there was no evidence for it and that he had no access to the wallets given that have no access is a part of the bail conditions.

However, it looks like his lawyers are now trying to change those bail conditions, but many believe that such a request will be denied by the court.

CoinDesk reports:

As part of his bail conditions, Bankman-Fried was prohibited from accessing cryptocurrency held by FTX and its trading arm, Alameda Research, after the government pointed to illicit transfers made from Alameda wallets.

The bar includes crypto purchased with FTX or Alameda funds.
“Nearly three weeks have passed since the initial pretrial conference and we assume that the Government’s investigation has confirmed what Mr. Bankman-Fried has said all along; namely, that he did not access and transfer these assets,” said a Jan. 28 letter from Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen.

“Given that the sole basis advanced for seeking that condition has not been supported, we believe that the bail condition imposed at the conference should be removed,” Cohen told Lewis Kaplan, a judge in the Southern District of New York.

In a Jan. 27 filing, the U.S. Department of Justice requested a communications ban as an additional bail condition, saying that Bankman-Fried had attempted to contact FTX’s General Counsel Ryne Miller, and a potential witness in the case.

In regards to the current state of the FTX trial, the advisors of SBF have not been cooperating with the investigation on what happened to the misused funds that have disappeared.

The new company CEO has shared the new efforts to try to recover as much of the lost assets, but it seems that it will be a lengthy process and customers may not be able to recover them for at least two years.

This is assuming that a significant amount of the capital is recovered, but it is unlikely that it will be the full amount.

Recent news have also shown that FTX had a long list of creditors in which many were Fortune 500 companies such as Apple or Netflix as well as other crypto exchanges.

It is expected that this request from SBF will be addressed in the next week and SBF’s trial start is still set for October 2, 2023.

Yahoo reports:

In a Jan. 27 filing, the U.S. Department of Justice requested a communications ban as an additional bail condition, saying that Bankman-Fried had attempted to contact FTX’s General Counsel Ryne Miller, and a potential witness in the case.

Cohen’s response broadly agrees to the restriction, but says Bankman-Fried should still have access to some former staffers, including his therapist George Lerner.

“Requiring Mr. Bankman-Fried to include counsel in every communication with a former or current FTX employee would place an unnecessary strain on his resources and prejudice his ability to defend this case,” Cohen said.

“Many of these individuals are Mr. Bankman-Fried’s friends. Imposing a blanket restriction on his contact with them would remove an important source of personal support.”

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