Kaplan rejected that proposed agreement on Tuesday and said the hearing on Bankman-Fried's bail conditions remained scheduled for Thursday, without explaining why he denied the deal. As part of the agreement with prosecutors, Bankman-Fried would have also withdrawn his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. His lawyers had originally proposed banning him from contacting only certain potential witnesses like former Alameda chief Caroline Ellison and former FTX technology chief Zixiao "Gary" Wang, who have pleaded guilty to fraud and are cooperating with prosecutors. Bankman-Fried faces eight criminal counts including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy and could face up to 115 years in prison if convicted, though any sentence would ultimately be determined by a judge based on a range of factors. His trial is scheduled to begin on Oct 2. He rode a boom in the value of bitcoin and other digital assets to build a net worth of an estimated $26 billion and become an influential political donor in the United States. FTX collapsed in November after a wave of withdrawals and declared bankruptcy, wiping out Bankman-Fried's fortune. He was extradited from the Bahamas, where he lived and where the exchange was based. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Bankman-Fried barred from contacting FTX employees, using Signal U.S. seeks tighter bail for FTX founder Bankman-Fried to prevent tampering Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty in FTX fraud case; October trial set U.S. judge rejects bail proposal for FTX founder Bankman-Fried ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Will Dunham)
Messaging: Twitter: @cohenluc)) By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday is
set to hear arguments on whether FTX cryptocurrency exchange
founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be able to contact employees of
companies he once controlled while out on bail ahead of his
trial on fraud charges.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan last week temporarily
barred Bankman-Fried from contacting any current or former
employees of FTX or Alameda Research, his hedge fund, after
prosecutors raised concerns that the 30-year-old former
billionaire may be trying to tamper with witnesses.
As a condition of Bankman-Fried's release on $250 million
bond, Kaplan also prevented Bankman-Fried from using messaging
apps such as Signal that let users auto-delete messages until at
least Thursday's hearing in Manhattan federal court.
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried, who on Jan. 3 pleaded not guilty
to fraud charges stemming from now-bankrupt FTX's collapse, have
argued that his efforts to contact FTX's current general counsel
and chief executive were attempts to offer "assistance" and not
interfere.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers said in court papers on Monday they
had reached an agreement with prosecutors to exempt certain
people from the no-contact order and to let him use
communication tools such as Zoom and texting, as well as
WhatsApp if he installed monitoring technology on his phone.
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