FTX’s Bankman-Fried denies witness tampering, accepts gag order
Lawyers for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried rejected prosecutors’ claims that his discussions with a New York Times reporter amounted to witness tampering however agreed to just accept a gag order, they stated in a letter to the decide within the prison fraud case.
The letter, launched on Sunday, got here after prosecutors sought to bar Bankman-Fried and allies from making public statements that would intrude with the case. The defence requested that the order additionally apply to prosecutors and potential witnesses, particularly FTX chief government officer John Ray.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan is about to think about the attainable order throughout a Wednesday listening to in federal court docket in Manhattan.
Cryptocurrency trade FTX, as soon as valued at US$32 billion, filed for chapter in November. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not responsible to fees he stole buyer funds, and is about to go on trial on Oct. 2.
In the letter, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer Mark Cohen confirmed his shopper had spoken with a New York Times reporter and supplied paperwork written by a former colleague, Caroline Ellison, who has co-operated with prosecutors.
The July 20 Times article reported excerpts from Ellison’s private Google paperwork from earlier than the collapse of FTX wherein she spoke about being “pretty unhappy and overwhelmed” together with her job and feeling “hurt/rejected” from her breakup with Bankman-Fried.
Ellison led Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research hedge fund and has pleaded responsible to defrauding traders. In December, Bankman-Fried stated he and Ellison had been in a relationship however gave no additional particulars.
Cohen stated Bankman-Fried’s conduct “did not violate the protective order in this case, nor did he violate his bail conditions, nor did he violate any law or rule.”
In arguing the order must also apply to Ray, Cohen stated bankrupt FTX’s present chief has “attacked and vilified” Bankman-Fried, pointing to his remark that the “villains” within the FTX case had been being pursued by authorities and his assertion that Bankman-Fried lied to maintain up a “digital con game.”
A spokesperson for the FTX debtors declined to remark. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s workplace in Manhattan, which is prosecuting the case, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey; Additional reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Jonathan Oatis)
