Crypto crook Sam Bankman-Fried released on record $250M bond with house arrest terms in criminal fraud case
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY: With a record $250 million bond and house arrest conditions, disgraced financier Sam Bankman-Fried is set to be released. The court made the decision on December 22, 2022, after his first court appearance in Manhattan Federal Court.
Following a plea arrangement, US District Judge Gabriel Gorenstein signed the deal which saw the crypto crook leaving the Bahamas voluntarily to appear at a US court to face criminal charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, defrauding investors, and misusing funds of FTX. All of these charges carry a combined sentencing of 115 years in prison, reports the New York Post.
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Clad in a dark gray suit, the FTX founder appeared in court with his lawyers Christian Everdell and Mark Cohen who also represented Ghislaine Maxwell in the high-profile sex offender case previously.
Placing a 'location monitoring specialist' on the table, the prosecutors accepted the request of releasing the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency founder with the condition of placing him under house arrest at his parent's home. Bankman-Fried is currently left in the custody of his parents Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried who are law professors at Stanford.
Referring to the deal as a record bail that was to be signed by the defendant, his parents, and a non-family member, US Attorney Nick Roos finds the bond as the “highest ever pre-trial bond” offered by the court, reports the New York Post.
According to Roos, the arrangement of the plea was carried out after authorities in the Bahamas handed over the Alameda Research founder to the US officials on December 22. The 30-year-old accepted an extradition waiver. Following the arrest of Bankman-Fried at an island resort, Caribbean county officials denied his bail request. As part of the arrangement, the fallen mogul was required to appear for the pre-trial services on December 23, Friday at 10 am in the Northern District of California.
The prosecutors said that Bankman-Fried would be allowed to leave his parent's Palo Alto house for exercise and mental health and he is forbidden from making above $1000 non-sanctioned transactions except for legal fees. Alameda Research CEO and his ex-girlfriend Caroline Allison also pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering as per the New York report. Through a leniency deal, she was sentenced to 110 years in prison.