The U.S. DOJ Seeks to Cancel Sam Bankman-Fried's Bail

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) wants to cancel Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) bail. They accuse him of trying to influence witnesses and of leaking Caroline Ellison’s diary to The New York Times, according to a court document from July 28. 

SBF was released on bail on Dec. 22, 2022, but asked for changes to his bail conditions several times. On Jan. 15, 2023, he sent a message to the chief lawyer of FTX US. He wanted to rebuild their relationship and asked if they could help each other in various ways.

The DOJ claims SBF used the messaging app Signal for bad purposes, which makes their investigation harder because Signal automatically deletes messages. The court is worried that SBF might be trying to influence witnesses.

John Reed Stark, who used to head the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Internet Enforcement, said the judge has several options. He could see SBF’s actions as trying to wrongly influence witnesses. If so, the judge might change SBF's bail conditions again or cancel his bail.

This submission was made after a court hearing on July 26. U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon asked for SBF's bail to be cancelled. She claimed he used his freedom to scare Ellison, his former partner and colleague. Sassoon also said SBF called a New York Times reporter about 100 times.

The DOJ's complaint from July 20 also accuses SBF of leaking Ellison’s diary. They say he was trying to damage a government witness's reputation by sharing her private writings with a reporter.

Reported by Coinpaprika News