FTX suspect’s attorneys cite car incident

A car with three occupants recently drove into a barricade outside the California home owned by Sam Bankman-fried’s parents, a possible attempt to gain access to the property where the founder of crypto exchange FTX is under house arrest.

Lawyers for Bankman-fried made the disclosure in a letter dated Thursday to U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan who is presiding over the criminal case against Bankman-fried.

He faces charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits on his cryptocurrency trading platform, using some of the funds to make large campaign donations to politicians.

Bankman-fried pleaded not guilty last month and was released on $250 million bond, on the condition he await trial at this parents’ home in Palo Alto, California. The lawyers were responding to a motion by several media outlets to unseal the names of two individuals besides Bankman-fried’s parents who agreed to sign the recognizance bond.

The lawyers, Mark Cohen and Chris Everdell, in part argue that the court should not unseal the names because doing so could threaten the individuals’ safety. As proof, they cited an incident in which a black car drove into a metal barricade erected outside the Bankman-fried residence. The lawyers said three men exited the car and told a security guard “something to the effect of: ‘You won’t be able to keep us out.’”

The three men got back in the car and drove away. Neither the men or the vehicle have been identified, the lawyers said.

Eight media outlets, including The Associated Press, say the names should be unsealed because of the gravity of Bankman-fried’s alleged crimes.