NEW YORK – A United States federal judge sent the founder of the cryptocurrency platform FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) to prison this Friday.for alleged manipulation of witnesses in view of the trial that he faces on October 2 for crimes of fraud.
Judge Lewis Kaplan today presided over a hearing regarding the conditions of SBF’s bail after prosecutors argued that the disgraced businessman was following a “pattern of witness tampering”, and sided with them that his conduct constituted probable cause, according to CNN.
According to the judicial file of the case, to which EFE had access, the defendant’s bail has been “revoked” and he has been sent to “pretrial detention“, and according to the journalists present in the room, he left already handcuffed to be admitted to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (New York).
Judge Kaplan had previously imposed a “gag order” on SBF but today said that this was not enough to prevent it from leaking information about the case, and pointed out that SBF has tried to manipulate witnesses on at least two occasions, adds the outlet.
SFB, 31, was arrested in December 2022 and is accused by the US Justice of seven counts that include fraud and money laundering for, among other things, allegedly diverting billions of dollars from clients of FTX for other purposes and to be able to lead a life of luxury.
Since his extradition to New York from the Bahamas, he has remained under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, after agreeing to a large bail of $250 million, one of the highest in history.
In July, prosecutors charged the former CEO of FTX with leaking personal documents of Caroline Ellison to The New York Times, one of his partners and with whom he was romantically related, after learning that she could testify against him in the trial in search of benefits in his own process.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this was one of several episodes in which SBF had communicated with the media and had served as a source for their information as part of a campaign to try to discredit potential witnesses and influence the process.
FTX, once one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms in the world, quickly went under last November after many users rushed to withdraw their funds. amid information that questioned the solvency of the company.
Three of SBF’s former partners, including Ellison, They have admitted their guilt before the Prosecutor’s Office and have shown themselves willing to collaborate with the investigations.s, which can complicate the situation of the former millionaire.
The rise and fall of the very young millionaire, who made his fortune in the dazzling world of cryptocurrencies, is one of the most spectacular and exemplary cases experienced in recent years in the world of finance.
The supervised freedom that he has enjoyed during these seven months was highly criticizedand the imposition of that large bail so that he could continue living a comfortable life as an example of how justice does not always apply the same standards.
Keep reading:
– Cryptocurrency Billionaire Sam Bankman Pleaded “Not Guilty” to Fraud, Scam and Money Laundering: 115 Years in Prison Requested at New York Trial
– FTX: who is Sam Bankman-Fried, the “king of crypto” arrested in the Bahamas and accused of fraud in the US.
– FTX: what is a polícula, the non-traditional love lifestyle with which they associate Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the crypto company