Court bars Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting FTX and Alameda staff

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York granted the request from the U.S. Department of Justice, barring Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) from contacting former or current employees of FTX or Alameda Research. Reuters.

\n\n\n\n

Under the order, SBF also may not use encrypted-messaging apps, including Signal.

\n\n\n\n

Earlier in January prosecutors said that Bankman-Fried attempted to contact the exchange’s current chief legal officer for its U.S. unit, Ryan Miller. The filing also described other similar cases.

\n\n\n\n

Lawyers for the former FTX chief выступили против ходатайства США, предлагая исключить из круга его контактов действующих и бывших сотрудников биржи и Alameda, включая Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh.

\n\n\n\n

“Although [the defense] seeks to have the court interpret this message in a favorable light, it does not appear persuasive, at least at a preliminary stage,” Kaplan said.

\n\n\n\n

Earlier, SBF’s lawyers could not obtain the order to disclose the data of two unnamed bail-bond guarantors. The court granted the corresponding motion by a group of leading media outlets.

\n\n\n\n

Earlier in January, FTX lawyers asked for permission to summon Bankman-Fried, his family and several former top executives of the company.