A recent report revealed that the justice department of the United States wants the former FTX exchange CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), remanded behind bars as the chief prosecutor stated that the safety of the community cannot be guaranteed if SBF is released on any condition.
According to the report, the Department of Justice is pushing for SBF to be jailed for the remaining time he has left before his trial in court. They claimed that the defendant had been abusing the movement’s liberty to manipulate many witnesses on multiple occasions.
In addition, the report showed that Bankman-Fried, alongside two of his counsel lawyers, recently appeared before a federal court because the Department of Justice accused him of sharing files with the New York Times to implicate Ellison Caroline, the ex-CEO of Alameda Research, who was reportedly his former partner.
During the hearing, an assistant US prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, started by claiming that the American DOJ wants Sam Bankman-Fried behind bars. He added that the go ornament believed the community would be unsafe if SBF is left to roam about, no matter the release clause. She referred to SBF trying to implicate Ellison Caroline as evidence presented by the government.
The DOJ Wants SBF To Be Remanded Ahead Of His Trial
Furthermore, the assistant claimed that Bankman-Fried sent over 100 emails to journalists and called a particular New York Times reporter who posted the discrediting article about Ellison more than 100 times. Also, the DOJ argued that the former CEO of FTX gave the information recorded in the report on Ellison.
More interesting, the report revealed that SBF had made over 500 calls with Micheal Lewis, a famous author who plans to write a story on FTX once the ex-CEO’s trial starts. This worries the DOJ as they called for the defendant to be remanded in jail till his trial begins.
Meanwhile, Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presides over the case, has reportedly declined the DOJ’s request for Bankman-Fried to be jailed. However, he gave the defense and prosecution a deadline to submit a formal report on the issue. The defense has until Tuesday to table its argument, while the prosecution is to submit its final stance on August 3.
In addition, the filing revealed that during the hearing, Judge Kaplan seemed skeptical about the arguments of the defense counsel Mark Cohen. During the hearing, Cohen reportedly claimed that Bankman-Fried didn’t try to implicate Ellison nor tried to call journalists but instead commented on the numerous negative articles written about him to correct some wrong notions.
The Court May Revoke Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bail Order
Furthermore, Cohen added that it would be difficult for the defendant’s legal team to articulate his defense if Bankman-Fried is jailed, given the numerous documents related to the case that must be addressed.
Meanwhile, a report revealed that prior to the hearing on Wednesday, the judge had once expressed worries over how Sam Bankman-Fried behaved when he was not in detention. In February, during a hearing, the Judge remarked that the defendant was allegedly tamper3d with witnesses as he contacted the former general lawyer for FTX.US, Ryne Miller.
Judge Kaplan stated during g the last year g that he still believes SBF tried to influence testimony when he called Miller. He added that the suspicion is easy to believe now that the defendant reportedly made an enormous amount of calls to authors and journalists. The judge said that armed with the new evidence; it is possible that SBF’s bail would be revoked.
In conclusion, Judge Kaplan warned the defendant to take the accusations seriously and placed a temporary gag ban on Sam Bankman-Fried, preventing him from contacting any press or public media till the court receives submission if the bail should be revoked or not from the prosecution and defense representatives.
As things stand, SBF is scheduled to face trial in October on all the allegations, such as fraud, leveled against him by the Department of Justice earlier this year.
