FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Faces New Trouble With Revised Bail Conditions 

Attorneys representing Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, have agreed on proposed bail terms for the former billionaire awaiting trial for his role in the company’s collapse last year. 

Earlier this month, the lawyers sent a letter to bankruptcy judge Lewis Kaplan proposing to review and modify SBF’s bail conditions to restrict the disgraced founder from using phones and other electronic devices connected to the internet. 

The move followed allegations that he tried to contact FTX employees after he was bailed out for $250 million in December. 

Phone With Zero Internet Capabilities 

According to a court document filed on March 27, 2023, Judge Kaplan has approved the proposal. 

Under the new bail conditions, SBF will be allowed to use two electronic devices, a phone with no Internet capabilities and a laptop with limited functionality.  

The former FTX CEO has been prohibited from using other electronics outside the approved devices, including computers, video games, and related platforms. 

SBF parents Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried have also agreed to disallow their son from using their computers or phones. 

The Stanford University law professors will also use password protection to safeguard their phones and install monitoring software to capture the device’s users every five minutes. 

According to a Reuters report, the proposal was approved after the prosecutors initiated the idea of sending SBF to jail until his trial. 

SBF Paid $40M to Chinese Government Officials 

While SBF has just received modified bail terms while awaiting a trial slated for October 2023, the former FTX CEO and supposedly crypto white Knight have landed in new trouble with the United States federal authorities. 

The disgraced founder has been charged with bribery fraud. In a new complaint filed against him on Tuesday, prosecutors alleged that Bankman-Fried “directed and caused the transfer of at least approximately $40 million in virtual assets intended for the benefit of one or more Chinese government officials.”

The funds were used to bribe the unnamed government officer to unfreeze crypto accounts belonging to Alameda Research, one of the 130 companies owned by the FTX co-founder. 

In February, the authorities added four charges to his criminal crimes, including bank fraud and political fraud. The former FTX CEO has also been accused of violating anti-bribery laws, bringing his total indictments to 13.