SBF’s lawyers move to block release of bail guarantors’ identities

February 8, 2023 Coin Telegraph

$250M

The appeal, filed on the last possible day, prevents the names of two bond guarantors for SBF from being revealed until at least Feb. 14.

The names of two guarantors who signed off on part of Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail bond will continue to remain a secret for now.

A judge has also rejected an agreement that would have permitted Bankman-Fried to use certain messaging apps.

Bankman Fried’s lawyers filed an appeal to block the release of the guarantors' names last-minute on Feb. 7. The appeal did not contain further arguments against the disclosure but it will prevent the order from being enforced until Feb. 14 to allow for an application for a further stay.

The appeal was expected after a Jan. 30 ruling in which United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan granted a joint petition from eight major media outlets seeking to unseal the guarantors' names.

*Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview during the Bitcoin 2021 conference. Source:* *Cointelegraph*

At the time, Kaplan noted his order was likely to be appealed given the novelty of the circumstances.

He stated arguments by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers that guarantors “would face similar intrusions” as Bankman-Fried’s parents lacked merit given the size of their individual bonds was much smaller, at $200,000 and $500,000.

Bankman Fried’s parents — Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried — were the other two parties who signed off on the bond.

Additionally, the judge said the guarantors had voluntarily signed individual bonds in a “highly publicized criminal proceeding,” and had therefore opened themselves up to public scrutiny.

Meanwhile, on Feb. 7 Kaplan rejected a joint agreement between Bankman-Fried’s legal team and prosecutors that would have modified bail conditions and allowed Bankman-Fried to use certain messaging apps.

Kaplan did not provide a reason for denying the motion but added the subject would be further discussed in a Feb. 9 hearing.

Kaplan ruled on Feb. 1 that Bankman-Fried was barred from contacting FTX or Alameda Research employees citing a risk of “inappropriate contact with prospective witnesses” after it was revealed the former CEO had been contacting past and present staff.

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January 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

<div>Major media outlets demand identities of SBF's 0M bond guarantors</div>

associated press

The media’s lawyers argued the public’s right to know Bankman-Fried's sureties outweighed their privacy and safety rights, but Bankman-Fried’s lawyers strongly disagreed.

Eight major media companies including Bloomberg, The Financial Times and Reuters have demanded public disclosure of the two individuals responsible for guaranteeing FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bond.

In a Jan. 12 letter addressed to New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, attorneys from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP — acting on behalf of the media giants — argued that “the public’s right to know Bankman-Fried's guarantors outweighed their privacy and safety rights.”

Media organizations looking to persuade the judge to unseal the identities of Bankman-Fried's guarantors include the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, Dow Jones, The Financial Times, Insider and the Washington Post.

In making their case, the media’s lawyers used case precedent from Ghislaine Maxwell’s Dec. 2020 case — where the bond guarantors' names weren’t revealed — to argue that Sam Bankman-Fried’s financial crimes were not as serious as Maxwell’s involvement in Jeffery Epstein’s child sex traffic ring scandal:

"While Mr. Bankman-Fried is accused of serious financial crimes, a public association with him does not carry nearly the same stigma as with the Jeffrey Epstein child sex trafficking scandal.”

According to a Jan. 12 report from Reuters, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers previously argued that Bankman-Fried's sureties should be kept under wraps as Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried — the parents and co-signers of Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond — have received ongoing physical threats since FTX's catastrophic collapse in early November.

If the guarantor’s names were revealed, there would be a “serious cause for concern” for the safety and welfare of those two people, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued.

On Jan. 3, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty against all eight criminal charges related to the shock collapse of his former cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which includes wire fraud and violations of campaign finance laws among other charges.

Joseph Bankman