As a condition of his release from federal custody, the federal court presiding over the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, has ruled that he is not allowed to have any contact with the current or former. workers of the exchange.

In a ruling issued on February 1, 2019, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York stated that in order for Bankman-Fried to remain free on bail until the conclusion of his trial, he would be prohibited from communicating with current or former employees. of FTX or Alameda Research “except in the presence of counsel.” As part of his ruling, Kaplan added that SBF could not communicate with anyone using encrypted messaging apps like Signal. Previous submissions made by the prosecution indicated that the former FTX CEO had used the app to communicate with current FTX US General Counsel, Ryne Miller. Kaplan’s ruling prohibits SBF from contacting anyone using such apps.

“The indisputable information available to the Court regarding the ‘nature and gravity of the danger posed by [defendant’s continued] release’ about existing conditions has changed substantially since he was released, and there appears to be a material threat of inappropriate contact with potential witnesses,” Kaplan said. “Information has changed substantially since he was released, and there appears to be a material threat of inappropriate contact with potential witnesses,” Kaplan said. “The Court finds that this danger is evidently and compellingly sufficient to support the imposition of additional restrictions pending the full cross-applications argument,” which was originally written as ” that the risk is clearly sufficient to justify the imposition of further conditions”.

According to Kaplan, SBF was the driving force behind decisions to remove all Slack and Signal communications between FTX and Alameda employees starting in 2021. SBF allegedly told the former Alameda CEO that any potential legal case would be more difficult. build without proper documentation. In his opinion, he also referenced Signal’s communications with Miller and other techniques to contact “other current and former FTX workers.”

The court has yet to make a decision on whether SBF would also be barred from accessing funds from FTX and Alameda as part of the terms of his release. In a document filed on January 30, the Justice Department alleged that Bankman-Fried had contacted FTX CEO John Ray to explore potential avenues for gaining access to the company’s money. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 7, and Judge Kaplan has said he will attend.

Bankman-Fried’s trial is scheduled to begin in October in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, where he is being arraigned on eight felony counts, one of which is wire fraud. FTX bankruptcy proceedings are now underway in the District of Delaware as well, where debtors recently requested subpoenas to obtain information and documents from SBF family members.