Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was ordered to head to jail after a judge revoked his bail. The reason: alleged witness tampering.
Ahead of his trial, scheduled to begin on Oct. 2, Bankman-Fried has been living with his parents in their Palo Alto home under house arrest.
Some of the alleged witness tampering involved his ex-girlfriend, Carline Ellison. She is the former head of Alameda Research, which Bankman-Fried co-funded. Prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of leaking private entries from her diary.
With Ellison having already pleaded guilty to fraud charges, and likely set to become one of the witnesses who will take the stand to testify against Bankman-Fried, prosecutors said there is “probable cause to believe” Bankman-Fried “has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice,” U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan said on Friday, per media reports. They also accused the tech mogul of trying to meddle with the jury pool.
Bankman-Fried has been charged with committing a slew of fraud-related crimes, including two counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He’d been given house arrest after posting a $250 million bond. The 31-year-old pleaded not guilty to the first 12 charges. He is currently looking at up to 115 years in prison for the earlier charges.
Following the judge’s order, Bankman-Fried’s team said it plans to appeal the decision.
