The former boss of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, was returned to prison on Friday by a federal judge in New York who found that he had violated the rules of his parole. The prosecutor’s office was behind this appeal to have the conditional release overturned, accusing Sam Bankman-Fried of witness tampering.
According to the prosecutor, he notably transmitted documents to the New York Times in an attempt to influence the testimony of Caroline Ellison, a former executive of his investment company Alameda who was charged and who agreed to collaborate with the American authorities. At the end of the hearing, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York “ordered that the defendant be taken into custody by the US Marshalls”, the federal security agency responsible for prisoners.
Pending his trial, he had been placed under house arrest with his parents in California after the payment of a bond of 250 million dollars. Indicted in particular for fraud and criminal association, “SBF”, his nickname, had been extradited at the end of December 2022 from the Bahamas, where the headquarters of FTX was located. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him over the months. His trial is due to begin in October in New York.
