FTX’s Bankman-Fried Denies Witness Tampering, Accepts Gag Order

(Reuters) – Legal professionals for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried rejected prosecutors’ claims that his discussions with a New York Occasions reporter amounted to witness tampering however agreed to just accept a gag order, they stated in a letter to the decide within the prison fraud case.

The letter, launched on Sunday, got here after prosecutors sought to bar Bankman-Fried and allies from making public statements that might intervene with the case.

Cryptocurrency change FTX, as soon as valued at $32 billion, filed for chapter safety in November because it was unable to repay depositors. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not responsible to fraud.

Within the letter, Bankman-Fried’s legal professional confirmed he had spoken with and offered private paperwork to the New York Occasions that included paperwork written by a former colleague, Caroline Ellison, who has cooperated with the U.S. authorities.

“Bankman-Fried didn’t violate the protecting order on this case, nor did he violate his bail situations, nor did he violate any regulation or rule governing his conduct,” Bankman-Fried’s lawyer Mark Cohen stated within the letter.

An article printed by New York Occasions titled “Contained in the Personal Writings of Caroline Ellison, Star Witness within the FTX Case” reported excerpts from Ellison’s private Google paperwork from earlier than the collapse of FTX during which she spoke about being “fairly sad and overwhelmed” along with her job and feeling “damage/rejected” from her breakup with Bankman-Fried.

Ellison led Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Analysis hedge fund and has pleaded responsible to defrauding traders and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. In December, Bankman-Fried stated he and Ellison had been in a relationship however gave no additional particulars.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey; Enhancing by Christopher Cushing)

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