Court bans Sam Bankman-Fried from using a VPN

A judge banned Sam Bankman-Fried from using VPN after the former FTX chief admitted he watched the Super Bowl via a private network while under house arrest. The Block reports.

“The use of the VPN by the defendant carries the same risks as encrypted messaging apps or voice-call apps. I hereby modify the conditions of release, effective immediately, with a ban on the defendant using any VPN,” the outlet quotes the order by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

In early February the court barred Bankman-Fried contacting former and current employees of FTX or Alameda Research.

The founder of the failed exchange was arrested on December 12, 2022 in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government. The American prosecutors charged him with eight criminal counts. The former FTX CEO did not plead guilty.

The court released him on $250 million bail. The guarantors were his parents and two other unnamed individuals. In January 2023 Judge Kaplan granted the media group’s disclosure of the latest.

Prosecutors found that Bankman-Fried used a VPN at least twice. This raised concerns among law enforcement about covert visits to websites without government oversight under the house arrest conditions.

The defendant’s lawyers confirmed that he watched the football games on January 29, and also the Super Bowl on Sunday. He gained access to the games through an NFL Game Pass subscription that he had obtained while still living in the Bahamas.

This week the court will review new bail conditions for the founder of FTX. Prosecutors demanded their revision after discovering Bankman-Fried’s use of the encrypted messenger Signal to communicate with exchange employees.

Recall that in January the U.S. Department of Justice confiscated from the former FTX chief assets worth nearly $700 million.