A federal judge in New York revoked would-be cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail on Friday after prosecutors accused the FTX founder of witness tampering, multiple outlets reported.
The decision means Bankman-Fried, 31, will sit in jail until his trial on fraud charges, which is scheduled for October. His attorneys are expected to appeal.
His parents had agreed to sign a $250 million bond in December to keep their son at home in Palo Alto, California, following the sudden and spectacular collapse of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that had been one of the world’s largest such platforms.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan told the courtroom there was “probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
While Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued he was simply trying to protect his reputation, prosecutors said his efforts amounted to indirectly interfering with a key witness against him: his former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison.
Bankman-Fried gave reporters for The New York Times personal writings by Ellison, who was formerly CEO of Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency hedge fund owned by Bankman-Fried.
The documents revealed intimate thoughts about her life and work at Alameda — particularly her self-doubts and feelings about Bankman-Fried in the months before FTX fell apart. Kaplan said the only reason to leak Ellison’s writings would be “to hurt, discredit and frighten the subject of the material,” CNN reported.
Ellison, who is also charged with fraud, has been cooperating with federal prosecutors and is expected to provide crucial testimony at Bankman-Fried’s trial.
Bankman-Fried had also allegedly sent over 100 emails to media outlets and made over 1,000 phone calls to reporters, according to CNBC.
Kaplan agreed that these actions violated the terms of his release on bail, as Bankman-Fried is subject to severely restricted internet and phone usage.
The Justice Department slapped the entrepreneur with several charges related to money laundering, campaign finance offenses and various types of fraud a few weeks after FTX imploded last year and lost investors billions of dollars. He is accused of taking deposits and using them improperly to pay other expenses.
At the conclusion of Friday’s hearing, Bankman-Fried gave his blazer, tie and shoelaces to his lawyers before allowing himself to be handcuffed and led away, The Wall Street Journal reported.