For the time being, neither of the two guarantors who endorsed a portion of Sam Bankman-250 Fried’s million dollar bail bond will have their identities revealed to the public.
A court has also decided against an arrangement that would have allowed Bankman-Fried to use certain messaging applications. This decision was made by the judge.
On February 7, at the very last minute, the attorneys for Bankman Fried submitted an appeal to stop the publishing of the identities of the guarantors. The appeal did not include any further grounds against the disclosure; nonetheless, it will delay the enforcement of the order until February 14 in order to permit an application for a second stay of execution.
Following the judgement that took place on January 30 in which United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan approved a combined petition from eight prominent media sites seeking to unseal the guarantors’ identities, it was anticipated that the appeal would be filed.
Given the unprecedented nature of the situation, Kaplan pointed out that it was quite possible that his ruling would be challenged in court.
He stated that the arguments made by Bankman-lawyers Fried’s that guarantors “would face similar intrusions” as Bankman-parents Fried’s lacked merit given that the size of their individual bonds was much smaller, at $200,000 and $500,000. He said that Bankman-lawyers Fried’s had no right to make those arguments.
Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, Bankman Fried’s parents, were the other two parties that signed off on the bond. The bond was approved by all four parties.
In addition, the court said that the guarantors had freely signed individual bonds in a “well publicized criminal procedure,” and had thus placed themselves up to the scrutiny of the general public as a result of their actions.
In the meanwhile, on February 7th, Kaplan decided against approving a joint agreement that had been negotiated between Bankman-legal Fried’s team and the prosecution. This agreement would have changed Bankman-bail Fried’s restrictions and enabled him to use certain messaging applications.
Although Kaplan did not cite a rationale for refusing the request, he did mention that more discussion on the topic will be place at a hearing scheduled for February 9.
After it came to light that the former CEO had been communicating with both current and former members of staff, Judge Kaplan issued a ruling on February 1 that prohibited Bankman-Fried from contacting employees of FTX or Alameda Research. The judge justified this decision by citing the potential for “inappropriate contact with prospective witnesses.”
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