By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Sam
Bankman-Fried are nearing an agreement with U.S. prosecutors on
revised bail conditions for the indicted FTX cryptocurrency
exchange founder, who is trying to convince a skeptical judge he
should remain free.
In a letter filed on Friday night in Manhattan federal
court, Bankman-Fried's lawyer Christian Everdell said both sides
believed they were "close to a resolution", and expect to
formally propose new restrictions by next week.
Bankman-Fried, 31, faces a trial set for Oct. 2 on charges
of stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug
losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund, and making large
illegal political donations to buy influence in Washington, D.C.
Bail talks occurred this week after U.S. District Judge
Lewis Kaplan at a March 10 hearing renewed his concerns that
Bankman-Fried's electronic communications with others might
exceed the bounds of his $250 million bail package.
Kaplan's approval is needed to modify Bankman-Fried's bail.
The former billionaire has pleaded not guilty to eight
counts, and not yet been arraigned on four. He is living under
house arrest with his parents in Palo Alto, California.
Prosecutors raised the specter of witness tampering in
January after Bankman-Fried tried to contact John Ray, who
became FTX's chief executive when the company filed for
bankruptcy in November, and an in-house lawyer.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers have said their client was trying to
help, not interfere.
At the March 10 hearing, prosecutors and defense lawyers
proposed giving Bankman-Fried a flip phone with no internet
capability and a basic laptop with limited functions.
That was too generous for Kaplan, who said Bankman-Fried was
"inventive" and could conceivably "find a way around" the
restrictions without being caught.
In Friday's letter, Everdell also sought the judge's
permission to let Bankman-Fried in the meantime use a laptop to
access some FTX materials.
Though the laptop would lack monitoring software or restrict
Bankman-Fried's internet access, a lawyer or paralegal would
oversee his use and take the laptop away when Bankman-Fried
finished with it, Everdell said.
The case is U.S. v. Bankman-Fried, U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York, No. 22-cr-00673.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Sonali
Paul)
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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