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March 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bail

The judge said that imprisonment wasn’t necessary because Jatinder Singh couldn’t flee Australia without his Indian passport.

The Crypto.com customer who was accidentally sent $6.95 million from the exchange in 2021 and then allegedly went on a spending spree has been granted bail in Australia despite $2 million funds still unaccounted for.

In the Victorian County Court, prosecutors on March 20 tried to convince the judge that imprisonment would be the only way to ensure that Jatinder Singh would not flee the country.

The blunder by Crypto.com came about when a Bulgarian-based employee accidentally transferred $6.95 million to his account instead of what was meant to be a $100 refund in May 2021. The Melbourne man is alleged to have bought four houses and a car with the funds, along with sending a portion overseas.

Prosecutors argued that Singh is financially motivated to flee the country because only $4.9 million has been recovered, according to a report from the Herald Sun.

*The theft charges of Singh and Manivel are being dealt with by the Victorian County Court. Source: Country Court of Victoria*

Of the missing $2 million, over $1.45 million is believed to have been shifted offshore to Malaysia, the court heard.

Senior Constable Conor Healy told the judge that Singh “may have access to the outstanding money that has not been recovered yet,” while prosecutor Peter Botros argued that Singh posed an “unacceptable” flight risk because he was living without a visa, had no family in Australia and was unemployed prior to his arrest.

However, Judge Daniel Holding didn’t think this was enough to put Singh behind bars. He instead explained that confiscating Singh’s Indian passport and preventing him from applying for a new one at the Indian Embassy would be sufficient:

“If there is a condition that he not have a passport or he not apply for a passport … how does he manage to flee the country?”

Singh is facing a series of theft charges alongside his partner, Thevamanogari Manivel, who is the owner of the bank account to which the funds were transferred.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges. They continue to claim that they rightfully won the $7 million through a Crypto.com contest.

While the incident occured in May 2021, it was not discovered until an annual audit in December 2021.

The Singaporean-based cryptocurrency exchange has since launched civil action in the Victorian Supreme Court to recover the losses.

The Victoria Supreme Court h ruled that the funds must be returned to the company.

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Sam Bankman-Fried may no longer be allowed to play League of Legends

February 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

$250M

Sam Bankman-Fried is, for the most part, still able to freely access the internet through various devices. Prosecutors want to change that.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, may no longer be able to play League of Legends and other video games if newly proposed changes to his bail conditions from United States prosecutors are approved.

In a Feb. 15 letter to United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams asked the court to further expand restrictions surrounding Bankman-Fried’s electronic device usage.

They pointed to Bankman-Fried’s recent device usage as cause for concern, and agreed with the court’s intuition that it was “shortsighted” to focus only on restricting the use of apps, adding:

“There is now a record before the Court of a defendant who appears motivated to circumvent monitoring and find loopholes in existing bail conditions. The appropriate course, therefore, is broader restrictions on the defendant’s cellphone, tablet, computer, and internet usage, with limited exceptions.”

The prosecutors propose that Bankman-Fried should be prohibited from using cellphones, tablets, computers, or the internet, except for very limited uses such as reviewing pre-trial evidence, communicating with lawyers and accessing emails.

Here’s the list of proposed new bail restrictions that SBF is going completely ignore, without any real consequences https://t.co/cMVCdmRAj3
— Sean Tuffy (@SMTuffy) February 15, 2023

He would be restricted to using a single computer and cell phone, which in addition to his Gmail account would be monitored using a “pen register” — a device or process that essentially produces a list of phone numbers of internet addresses contacted from a specific source.

Bankman-Fried is understood to be an avid gamer, having reportedly played online video games such as League of Legends during fundraising rounds while at FTX.

Bankman-Fried also mentioned during an interview with New York Times on Nov. 13 that he likes to play games, as it helps him “unwind a bit” and clear his mind.

Under the newly proposed bail conditions, it appears that Bankman-Fried will no longer be allowed to partake in the activity.

Earlier this month, the former CEO was prohibited from using encrypted messaging apps after he was found to have contacted potential witnesses in his criminal case.

He has also been temporarily banned from using VPNs on Feb. 14, after the Justice Department discovered he had used a VPN on two different occasions — in order to watch sports coverage. This ban will be further discussed during a Feb. 16 hearing.

Many from the crypto community were disgusted by the initial conditions of Bankman-Fried’s bail, which required him to wear an ankle bracelet but afforded him full computer and internet access from his parents luxurious home in sunny California.

SBF will be spending Christmas at home with his parents playing video games rather than locked up in a cell. What kind of justice is that?
— Layah Heilpern (@LayahHeilpern) December 23, 2022

Prosecutor’s