FTX CEO under house arrest
Sam Bankman-Fried will await trial at parent’s Palo Alto home under $250M bond agreement
Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried walked out of a Manhattan courthouse Thursday with his parents after they agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him at their California home while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his FTX trading platform.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said in federal court that Bankman-Fried, 30, “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions.” Roos proposed strict bail terms including the $250 million bond — which he said is believed to be the largest federal pretrial bond ever — and house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto.
An important reason for allowing bail was that Bankman-Fried, who had been jailed in the Bahamas,
agreed to be extradited to the U.S., Roos said.
Reunited with his parents and lawyers inside the courthouse, an apparently silent BankmanFried shook the hands of a supporter before heading out the door, where photographers and video crews rushed him until he left in a car.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein agreed to the bond and house arrest, though he required that an electronic monitoring bracelet be affixed to Bankman-Fried before he left the courthouse. Roos had recommended it be attached today in California.
Bankman-Fried was shackled at the ankles when he entered the courtroom in a suit and tie to take a seat between his attorneys. He did not speak during the hearing except to answer the judge. Near its end, he was asked by Gorenstein whether he understood he would face arrest and owe $250 million if he chose to flee.
“Yes, I do,” Bankman-Fried answered.
Soon afterward, the hearing ended and Bankman-Fried, his hands in his front pants pockets, was led out by two U.S. marshals.
His next court date was scheduled for Jan. 3, when he is to appear before the judge who will preside over the case.
His bail conditions also require that he not open any new lines of credit, start a business or enter financial transactions larger than $1,000 without the approval of the government or the court.
The bond was to be secured by the equity in his parents’ home and the signature of them and two other financially responsible people with considerable assets, Roos said. The bail was described as a “personal recognizance bond,” meaning the collateral did not need to meet the bail amount.
Bankman-Fried, arrested in the Bahamas last week, was flown to New York late Wednesday after deciding not to challenge his extradition.
While he was in the air, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan announced that two of BankmanFried’s closest business associates also had been charged and Monday had secretly pleaded guilty.
Carolyn Ellison, 28, the former chief executive of BankmanFried’s trading firm, Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, 29, who co-founded FTX, pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud.