Justice Department Responds To Bankman-Fried's Camp's Attempt To Remove Bail Modifications

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has responded to Sam Bankman-Fried's camp after it tried to remove the bail conditions proposed by the U.S. prosecutors.

Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt crypto empire FTX, and his camp do not want to just sit idly and watch the prosecutors have their way in his criminal case. Through his lawyers, he requested the court last week to remove the bail conditions proposed by the prosecutors.

"The defense objects to the nature and tone of the Government's submission," his legal team said in a letter, noting that the proposed bail conditions are "an apparent effort to portray our client [Bankman-Fried] in the worst possible light."

It added that the prosecutors' letter "makes it appear as if it were prompted by exigent circumstances that required it to file on a Friday night and seek these new bail conditions."

Bankman-Fried's lawyers also said that "nearly three weeks have passed since the initial pretrial conference and we assume that the Government's investigation has confirmed what Mr. Bankman-Fried has said all along; namely, that he did not access and transfer these assets."

"Given that the sole basis advanced for seeking that condition has not been supported, we believe that the bail condition imposed at the conference should be removed," they said further.

However, court documents released Monday revealed that the DOJ, through a letter addressed to District Judge Lewis Kaplan, requested that a bail condition preventing Bankman-Fried from accessing or transferring assets at FTX and the crypto hedge fund he founded, Alameda Research, be left in place, according to Reuters.

The DOJ argued that the said assets were "vulnerable to exploitation and in need of protection from the defendant."

The prosecutors also defended its proposed bail condition to bar Bankman-Fried, who is also known as SBF in the crypto sphere, from getting in touch with former and current FTX employees.

They cited instances in which Bankman-Fried attempted to contact court-appointed FTX CEO John Ray III and FTX U.S. general counsel Rybe Miller. Bankman-Fried allegedly sent an email to Ray III on Jan. 2 saying he got off "on the right foot" and even offered to meet with the current FTX CEO in person in New York City.

Aside from that, court filings from Jan. 27 revealed that the former FTX founder tried to reach out to Miller to allegedly "influence" his testimony in the criminal case, which prompted prosecutors to file a motion and to amend Bankman-Fried's bail conditions.