The founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has to end his house arrest and go to jail instead. Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday revoked bail and ordered the 31-year-old to leave his parents’ home in California and be held in the Brooklyn borough of New York instead. Bankman-Fried is said to have tried to intimidate witnesses, the New York court said yesterday.
“He’s pushed the limits over and over again and I’m withdrawing the bail option,” Kaplan said in announcing his decision, according to US media reports. The one-time billionaire Bankman-Fried has been charged with 13 counts, including fraud and conspiracy. His trial is scheduled to begin on October 2nd.
The entrepreneur was arrested on December 12, 2022 at the instigation of the US judicial authorities in the Bahamas. FTX had its headquarters there. Before the collapse, these were one of the largest trading centers for so-called cryptocurrencies such as the digital money Bitcoin.
Bankman-Fried defended himself against allegations of fraud at the end of last year. “I’ve never tried to commit fraud on anyone,” he said at a conference in New York in early December. Speaking from the Bahamas at the time, Bankman-Fried said, “I saw it as a thriving business and was shocked by what happened this month.” In hindsight, he’s ashamed. “We failed completely,” said Bankman-Fried, referring to the multi-billion dollar risks of his crypto company.
The rise of crypto exchange FTX was once phenomenal. In less than three years, the company was valued at $32 billion and was custodians of billions of dollars on behalf of its clients.
