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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is going to jail for witness tampering

The disgraced crypto tycoon is going back to jail after having his bail revoked.

Donovan Erskine

August 11, 2023 2:10 PM

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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has had himself a hell of a year. After the collapse of his crypto exchange, he found himself in legal hot water for a slew of crimes and offenses. While he was able to use his wealth to post bail and avoid sitting in a cell, that’s exactly where he’s heading today by order of a judge. Sam Bankman-Fried is being taken back into custody for witness tampering.

Judge Lewis Kaplan approved a federal prosecutor’s request earlier today to revoke Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail, as reported by CNBC. He’ll remain in police custody until his trial begins in New York on October 2, 2023. SBF applied for delayed detention, but that request was denied by the judge.

This all comes as a consequence for suspected witness tampering in relation to his upcoming trial. “My conclusion is there is probable cause to believe the defendant tried to tamper with witnesses at least twice,” said Judge Lewis Kaplan. Since his arrest in December 2022, SBF has reportedly sent over 100 emails and made over 1,000 calls to members of the press, behavior that earned him a warning for the judge back in July. Bankman-Fried officially crossed the line when he leaked parts of Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriends diary, to the New York Times.

Since Ellison will likely be a witness in the upcoming criminal trial, the judge stated that SBF leaked her diary in an attempt to “discredit” her. The prosecution also pointed out SBF’s attempts to skirt around the conditions of his bail in order to correspond with the media. “Faced with a series of conditions meant to limit the defendant’s use of the internet and the phone, the defendant pivoted to in-person machinations,” they said.

With Sam Bankman-Fried back behind bars, there likely won’t be much more news out of his camp until the trial begins in October.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_