According to documents filed in court on Saturday, January 28, lawyers representing FTX founder Sam-Bankman Fried are seeking to remove the condition of his bail that prevented him from accessing the exchange’s funds.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, wrote to U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, adding that his client should have access to assets held by FTX. Kaplan also noted that Bankman-Fried had not been involved in unauthorized transactions before.
However, when the FTX empire collapsed in November 2022, FTX and FTX US requested $659 million in unauthorized transfers. But disgraced founder Bankman-Fried continues to deny any involvement in the transfers.
At the first court hearing on January 3, Bankman-Fried saw himself “prohibited from accessing or transferring any FTX or Alameda assets or crypto-currencies, including assets or crypto-currencies purchased with funds from FTX or Alameda” at the request of U.S. authorities. At the time, prosecutors acknowledged that there was no evidence of SBF’s involvement in the transfer of funds. However, U.S. authorities noted that the federal investigation was ongoing.
SBF attorney demands answers on FTX funds
In last Saturday’s recent filing, the attorney representing Sam Bankman-Fried argued that “three weeks have passed since the initial pretrial conference and we assume that the government’s investigation has confirmed what Mr. Bankman-Fried has been saying all along, that he did not access or transfer these assets.”
Counsel also argued that the defense informed the authorities as soon as it became aware of the transfer to provide the notice. Counsel also argued, “Since the only basis advanced for requesting this condition was not supported, we believe that the bail condition imposed at the conference should be removed.“
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) submitted a request to prohibit SBF from communicating with “current or former employees” of FTX without the presence of its attorney. This occurred after SBF contacted Ryan Miller, the current general counsel of FTX US, via Signal on January 15 in an attempt to influence Miller’s testimony.
SBF’s attorney, Mark Cohen, said his client should have unlimited contact with his father, his therapist and any employees or agents, even outside the presence of his attorney. The defense added:
“For example, this would mean that Mr. Bankman-Fried would not be able to talk to his therapist, who is a former FTX employee, without the involvement of his lawyers. According to public sources, FTX and Alameda had approximately 350 employees. Each of these current and former employees could have information crucial to Mr. Bankman-Fried’s defense. To require Mr. Bankman-Fried to include an attorney in every communication with a current or former FTX employee would unnecessarily strain his resources and prejudice his ability to defend this case. “
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