Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried (C) arrives to enter a plea before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan within the Manhattan federal court, Latest York, January 3, 2023.
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors try to bar indicted FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried from using encrypted messaging software, citing efforts that will “constitute witness tampering,” in line with a letter filed in Manhattan federal court Friday.
Bankman-Fried reached out to the “current General Counsel of FTX US who could also be a witness at trial,” prosecutors said. Ryne Miller, who was not identified by name in the federal government filing, is the present counsel for FTX US, and a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
The federal government claims that Bankman-Fried wrote to Miller via Signal, an encrypted messaging app, on Jan. 15, days after bankruptcy officials at crypto exchange disclosed the recovery of greater than $5 billion in FTX assets.
“I’d really like to reconnect and see if there is a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use one another as resources when possible, or at the least vet things with one another,” Bankman-Fried allegedly told Miller.
Bankman-Fried has also been involved with “other current and former FTX employees,” the filing said. Federal prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried’s request suggests an effort to influence the witness’s testimony, and that Bankman-Fried’s effort to enhance his relationship with Miller “may itself constitute witness tampering.”
Each Miller and a representative for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.
In restricting Bankman-Fried’s access to Signal and other encrypted messaging platforms, the federal government cites a have to “prevent obstruction of justice.” Federal prosecutors claim that Bankman-Fried directed Alameda and FTX through Slack and Signal, and ordered his employees set communications to “autodelete after 30 days or less.”
Citing previously undisclosed testimony from ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, the federal government claimed that Bankman-Fried indicated “many legal cases activate documentation and it’s harder to construct a legal case if information will not be written down or preserved.” Ellison pled guilty to multiple charges of fraud and has been cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s efforts to construct a case against Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried pled not guilty to eight charges in reference to the collapse of his multibillion-dollar crypto empire, FTX. He’s due in federal court in October, after being released on $250 million bond.
