The bond is meant to ensure that if Bankman-Fried flees, the government could confiscate the family’s assets – including their Palo Alto home – up to US$250 million. Reuters could not determine the family’s total net worth.
Bankman-Fried said at a New York Times conference on Nov 30, following the exchange’s collapse, that he had US$100,000 in his bank account.
“SUFFICIENT NOTORIETY”
Wearing leg restraints, Bankman-Fried sat flanked by his lawyers and nodded when the judge informed him that if he fails to appear in court, a warrant would be issued for his arrest. Gorenstein said conditions also included electronic monitoring via a device to be fitted before he left court, and a ban on opening new lines of credit or businesses.
He spoke only when asked by Gorenstein whether he understood the conditions of his release, and that he could be charged with an additional crime if he fails to show up to court.
“Yes I do,” Bankman-Fried replied.
But concerns about commingling of funds between FTX and Alameda led to a flurry of customer withdrawals in early November, ultimately forcing the exchange to declare bankruptcy on Nov 11.
Roos said that evidence at trial would consist of testimony from “multiple cooperating witnesses”, as well as thousands of pages of written communications.
Just hours after Bankman-Fried’s plane from the Bahamas took off, Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, announced that two of Bankman-Fried’s closest associates – former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang – had pleaded guilty and were cooperating with prosecutors.
Details of their cooperation were kept under wraps until Bankman-Fried left the Bahamas, according to court papers filed on Thursday.
