Sam Bankman- Fried was in hot water this week, after the DOJ alleged that the disgraced FTX founder tried to influence witnesses through the encrypted messaging app Signal.
In a letter to a Manhattan judge on Friday, federal prosecutors said Sam Bankman-Fried should not be allowed from encrypted messaging software, including Signal, because efforts that may constitute witness tampering. The prosecutors said that Bankman- Fried reached out to the current General Counsel of FTX US who may be a witness at trial. Ryne Miller, who was not identified by name in the government filing, is the current counsel for FTX US and is a former partner at Kirkland Ellis.
The DOJ claimed that Bankman- Fried wrote to Miller via Signal on January 15, days after bankruptcy officials at the exchange disclosed the recovery of more than $5 billion in FTX assets.
Bankman-Fried told Miller during the Signal conversation that they would really love to reconnect and see if there is a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources, or at least vet things with each other.
Bankman- Fried has also been in contact with other current and former FTX employees, according to the filing. CNBC reported that Bankman- Fried's request suggested an effort to influence the witness testimony and that Bankman- Fried's effort to improve his relationship with Miller could constitute witness tampering.
Bankman-Fried, 30, pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges related to the collapse of the now-bankrupt FTX earlier this month. His trial is scheduled for October 2.
Bankman- Fried was the second-biggest donor in 2020 after he donated $5.2 million to Joe Biden's campaign.
Bankman- Fried founded FTX in 2019 with his co-founder Gary Wang. The Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX offers derivatives products like futures and options and spot trading. FTX has become a key player in the space, rivaling Coinbase and Binance, once once an unknown startup.