Bankman-Fried keeps talking, ignoring advice
FTX founder told to present plan to preserve texts
For federal prosecutors, Sam BankmanFried could be the gift that keeps on giving.
After the November collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he founded in 2019, Bankman-Fried unexpectedly gave a series of interviews intended to present his version of events. He was indicted in December and charged with perpetrating one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history — and he's still talking, either in person or on the internet.
A federal judge Thursday ordered lawyers for Sam
Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, to create a plan with prosecutors that would ensure that Bankman-Fried did not delete text messages
he sent while awaiting trial on charges that he orchestrated the theft of billions of dollars in customer deposits.
The atypical chattiness for a criminal defendant is likely causing BankmanFried's attorneys to scratch their heads, or worse. Prosecutors can use any statements, tweets or other communications against him at his trial, which is scheduled for October.
“Prosecutors love when defendants shoot their mouths off,” said Daniel R. Alonso, a former federal prosecutor who is now a white-collar criminal defense attorney. If BankmanFried's public comments before trial can be proven false during the trial, it may undermine his credibility with a jury, he said.
Bankman-Fried's most immediate concern, however, is a recent private communication. Prosecutors say he sent an encrypted message over the Signal texting app on Jan. 15 to the general