Crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried is back behind bars in New York after a judge revoked his record $250 million bond on Friday. His bond was the largest in U.S. history.
The former founder and CEO of FTX crypto trading platform was arrested in the Bahamas in December, and extradited to the U.S. for defrauding investors out of billions of dollars and spending the money on luxury homes and private jets.
His investors included Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, Steph Curry and LeBron James.
He was allowed to leave NY and was under house arrest at his parents’ $4 million home in Northern California before his bond was revoked.
RELATED: Democrat lawmakers slam arrest of FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried
Last month, an assistant U.S. attorney asked a New York judge to jail Bankman-Fried for tampering with federal witnesses.
Even though a judge imposed very strict conditions on his bond release — including no Internet access and restricted phone use — Bankman-Fried still managed to leak his ex-girlfriend’s letters to the NY Times for a favorable article about him.
Via Daily Beast:
“The former billionaire had repeatedly angered both prosecutors and the court while out on bail following his arrest in December. Most recently, he leaked documents to The New York Times about his former lover Caroline Ellison, who once ran Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund and is likely to be a witness in his trial.”
The assistant U.S. attorney said Bankman-Fried leaked his ex-lover’s letters to the NY Times to intimidate her since she is set to testify against him at his trial in October.
The federal prosecutor argued that there was “no set of conditions short of detention to ensure the safety of the community.”
Judge Lewis Kaplan agreed. On Friday, Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond and remanded him to jail to await trial in October.
Bankman-Fried was stunned by the judge’s decision. He removed his jacket and tie in court before bending over to remove his shoelaces. Federal agents grabbed his arms and escorted him out of the courtroom.
The FBI reportedly “insisted” that he be held at a minimum security jail in Putnam County, which allowed Internet access and other perks.
But Judge Kaplan refused the request. He said Bankman-Fried will await trial at the notorious M.D.C. Brooklyn prison facility that was previously home to high-profile inmates like R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and “pharma bro” Martin Shkrelli.
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys will appeal the judge’s decision.
Before his arrest, Bankman-Fried had a personal net worth of $6 billion. But he told a judge that he had $100,000 in the bank. Many wondered how he was able to afford a $250 million bond.
Bankman-Fried was the second largest donor to Democrat lawmakers after George Soros. The crypto boss regularly rubbed elbows with Democrat lawmakers like Maxine Waters who was seen blowing a kiss at him after a Congressional hearing last November.
CAUGHT: Maxine Waters appears to blow a kiss at FTX’s chief fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried at a Congressional hearing while the cameras were still rolling
She’s the one who’s supposed to grill SBF next month?
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 18, 2022
