Judge bars Sam Bankman-Fried from accessing FTX and Alameda funds and continuing to “dip into the till”

An amendment was made Tuesday to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s bond agreement, prohibiting him from accessing or transferring funds related to FTX or Alameda Research as a new condition of his bond.

The request was made by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon at Bankman-Fried’s arraignment in Manhattan, acting on behalf of the government. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is presiding over the Bankman-Fried case, agreed to the measure.

At the proceedings, Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to all eight counts, including fraud and money laundering. Bankman-Fried’s trial date was also set for October 2 during the proceedings.

The change follows activity involving Alameda-linked portfolios that took place last week. Just days after Bankman-Fried was released on bail, approximately $1.7 million worth of Alameda-linked crypto-currencies were transferred to “coin mixers,” programs often used to mask trading activity, according to Arkham Intelligence.

After being arrested in the Bahamas and spending several days in a correctional facility, Bankman-Fried was released upon his return to the United States. As part of a bail agreement, Bankman-Fried’s parents’ home in California was posted as collateral, and he agreed to electronic monitoring, house arrest, among other requirements.

Alameda is Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading company, which was founded before FTX was launched. Part of the charges Bankman-Fried faces stem from accusations that client funds were illicitly transferred to Alameda to finance his bets.

After reports about last week’s transfers began to circulate, Bankman-Fried tweeted for the first time since his arrest in the Bahamas, denying he was behind the activity that involved the Alameda-linked wallets.

“None of these objects is me“, he said on Twitter. “I am not and could not move any of these funds; I no longer have access to them“.

None of these are me. I’m not and couldn’t be moving any of those funds; I don’t have access to them anymore.https://t.co/5Gkin30Ny5

– SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 30, 2022

At his arraignment Tuesday, one of Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, Mark Cohen, reiterated that the transfers were not about his client. In addition, Mark Cohen said the government had been contacted about the matter.

In suggesting the amended bail agreement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sassoon stated that federal prosecutors did not know whether Bankman-Fried had made the recent Alameda-related transfers, but that he had access to the portfolios at some point and argued that the disgraced CEO’s claims were unreliable because of previous false statements made on Twitter.

As an example, Sassoon referred to a Tweet made by Bankman-Fried days before FTX filed for bankruptcy in November. “FTX is doing well. Assets are fine“, Bankman-Fried had said in a now-deleted tweet.