Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail revoked ahead of October trial

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, had his bail revoked ahead of his October trial, US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan said on Friday.

The decision came after allegations that Bankman-Fried leaked the diary of Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of FTX’s investment-arm Alameda Research, to the New York Times. Kaplan announced the decision in a federal court in Manhattan on Friday afternoon.

Bankman-Fried is facing a number of charges, including defrauding FTX investors, from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Southern District of New York’s attorney’s office. He plead not guilty to U.S. criminal charges earlier this year.

Initially, Bankman-Fried requested access to Google Drive, which he said was “for discovery,” Inner City Press reported that Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon said on Friday at the hearing. “Then he used it to give Ms. Ellison’s documents to the New York Times.”

In a July 26 hearing, Kaplan inhibited Bankman-Fried from speaking publicly about his case, six days after the New York Times article on Ellison’s diary was published.

He was formerly under house arrest at his parents home in Palo Alto, California, on a $250 million bond, since his December 2022 arrest, but is now facing repercussions for allegedly intimidating witnesses like Ellison.

The federal judge said a gag order wasn’t sufficient given Bankman-Fried’s repeated misbehavior for crossing “a line.”

Kaplan said during the hearing there is a “possibility that he will be detained at the [The Metropolitan Detention Center], not on anyone’s list of five star facilities.” But noted Bankman-Fried may be able to have a “dedicated laptop” at the jail in Brooklyn, New York, for nine to 11 hours a day.

In late December, Ellison and former FTX co-founder Gary Wang pled guilty to multiple charges and accepted plea agreements that offer reduced sentencing in exchange for cooperating with U.S. authorities.

This is a developing story and may be updated as more information arises.