Court approves disclosure of anonymous bail guarantors for Sam Bankman-Fried

A judge in the Southern District of New York, Lewis Kaplan, granted the media group’s motion to disclose the identities of two unnamed bail guarantors for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The Block reports.

In January, the relevant filing was filed in court by the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine on behalf of the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Financial Times, CNBC, Reuters, Insider, the publishers of The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

On December 12, Bahamian authorities arrested the founder and former CEO of FTX at the request of the U.S. government. As part of the investigation into the collapse of the exchange, the U.S. prosecutors charged him with eight counts. SBF pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On December 23, the court released him on $250 million bail. His guarantors included his parents Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, and two others. The remaining two posted bonds of $500,000 and $200,000.

Attorneys asked that their names not be disclosed for security reasons. Kaplan granted the motion, but acknowledged that the media may challenge the ruling. The media, in a statement, pointed to the seriousness of the charges and the case’s significance for the public.

“The information requested is normally a matter of public record. In my view, individual guarantors should be disclosed,” the judge said.

Representatives for SBF may appeal Kaplan’s ruling. In that event, the disclosure is postponed until February 14.

Earlier, prosecutors requested a modification to the bail conditions for the FTX founder, alleging that he had been communicating with witnesses in the case.