Former Crypto Mogul Sam Bankman-Freed On $250 Million Bail After Being Extradited From The Bahamas | Sam Bankman-Fried

corrupted crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried He was released on $250 million bail on Thursday, the day after he agreed to be extradited from the Bahamas.

A 30-year-old man faces eight charges related to his role in the collapse of cryptocurrency exchanges FTX, sentenced to a maximum of 110 years in prison. Judge Gabriel Gollenstein said Bankman-Fried must be kept under close surveillance at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.

Bankman-Fried appeared gaunt and tired in a dark blue suit and ankle chains the day after he was transferred from the Bahamas to an FBI detention site and flown non-stop to an airport in the northern Bahamas. New York city.

Under the bail agreement, Bankmann-Fried will be monitored via an ankle bracelet. He had to give up his passport and agree to mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Gorenstein warned Bankman-Fried that if he violated his bail conditions, an arrest warrant would be issued and his parents would be held liable for a $250 million bond. The judge asked Bankman-Fried if he understood the terms.

The hearing is that federal prosecutors have identified 28-year-old Caroline Ellison, former CEO of crypto hedge fund firm Alameda Research and former girlfriend of Bankman Freed, and 29-year-old FTX co-founder Gary Ellison. It takes place after Wang reveals he has pleaded guilty to criminal offences. lead to collapse.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the charges against the two “related to their role in fraudulent practices that contributed to the demise of FTX.” “Both Ellison and Wang have pleaded guilty and cooperated with the Southern District of New York.”

According to the agreement, Ellison pleaded guilty to seven counts of defrauding customers and investors of both FTX and Alameda. Her charges against her carry her up to 110 years in prison. As part of her plea bargain, she was released on her $250,000 bail.

Wang faces similar charges. “Gary accepts responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his duty as a co-witness,” his attorney Ilan Graf said in a statement.

Defense attorneys speculate that with close associates of Bankman-Fried pleading guilty to criminal charges and cooperating with investigators, he may have little choice but to follow suit.

In court, prosecutors said they had 12 witnesses cooperating in the case so far and had access to encrypted text messages sent between employees.

The criminal charges are paired with civil charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accusing Ellison and Wang and Bankman-Fried of securities violations related to the group’s internal “FTT” cryptocurrency. increase.

according to SEC ComplaintBetween 2019 and 2022, Ellison, “at the direction of Bankman-Fried,” will invest large amounts of money on the open market to support its price by manipulating the price of FTT, the FTX-issued exchange cryptographic security token. facilitated the scheme by purchasing The FTT acted as collateral for his private loan by FTX of client assets to Alameda owned by Wang and Bankman-Fried.

The complaint highlights the circumstances given by multiple investigations into the close relationship between Alameda and FTX with no outside investors. According to the complaint, the two companies shared bank accounts and his members of key staff, mixed funds, and ultimately both were under Bankman-Fried’s direct control.

FTX has secretly advanced Alameda with a “virtually unlimited ‘credit line’ funded by the platform’s customers,” the SEC said, but the SEC said that individual trades would prevent customers from losing money. It reassures investors and depositors that it has “sophisticated and automated risk protection”. When it failed, it was the FTX customers who ultimately lost.

The complaint also alleges that Wang created FTX’s software code to enable Alameda to divert FTX’s customer funds, and that Ellison embezzled FTX’s customer funds and used them for Alameda’s trading activities. Bankman-Fried has previously dismissed claims that FTX’s software has a secret “backdoor.” warn “I didn’t even know how to code,” he said.

If the SEC action is upheld in court, it could have ramifications for the crypto industry beyond FTX. As part of the lawsuit, the SEC alleges that the FTT, created by FTX with the holder promising to share in the company’s profits, was “provided and sold as an investment contract and therefore security.” .

“Public information has led FTT holders to reasonably expect to share in FTT’s growth and future earnings, as well as an increase in the value of FTT,” the SEC said in a cryptocurrency claimed to have violated U.S. law on the issuance of unlicensed securities. may give.

Another civil lawsuit accuses Bankman-Fried of illegally using investor funds to fund Alameda Research to purchase real estate for himself and his family.

The collapse of FTXThe biggest financial fraud in American history‘, said the investigation was ongoing and again asked the former FTX employee to come forward.