Disgraced FTX laminitis Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) volition hold to a imaginable gag bid and refrain from making immoderate nationalist statements related to FTX and the radical progressive successful the lawsuit, Reuters reported.
Presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan volition marque a ruling connected whether the gag bid is needed oregon not astatine an upcoming July 26 hearing.
SBF has travel nether occurrence for sharing accusation related to Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison during an interrogation with the New York Times, which prosecutors assertion was an enactment of witnesser tampering.
No malicious intent
The erstwhile FTX CEO’s lawyers confirmed successful a missive to Judge Kaplan that SBF had met with reporters and gave them documents that were written by Ellison but denied the witnesser tampering allegations levied by the prosecution.
The defence said that the prosecution’s claims were unfounded and SBF had nary malicious intent down his actions. According to defence lawyer Mark Cohen:
“[SBF] did not interruption the protective bid successful this case, nor did helium interruption his bail conditions, nor did helium interruption immoderate instrumentality oregon rule.”
The lawyers wrote that SBF volition hold to a gag bid if the tribunal decrees it and refrain from making immoderate nationalist statements related to the case.
However, they added that the gag bid should besides use to the prosecution and each witnesses successful the lawsuit — including existent FTX CEO John Ray.
The lawyers argued that Ray has “attacked and vilified” SBF publically a fig of times and continues to overgarment him arsenic a “villain” contempt the tribunal having yet to scope a verdict successful the matter.
Ellison’s idiosyncratic diary
The New York Times published an nonfiction connected July 20 that elaborate immoderate of the entries successful Ellison’s “personal diary” successful the signifier of google documents. They were written by Ellison during her clip arsenic the caput of Alameda Research earlier FTX collapsed.
The excerpts chiefly item Ellison’s interruption up with SBF and her struggles successful starring Alameda Research, which she wrote felt “overwhelming.”
Ellison has plead blameworthy successful the FTX lawsuit and is cooperating with prosecutors. Her grounds could beryllium a captious linchpin for the lawsuit since she was portion of the “inner circle” of FTX leadership.
Prosecutors reason that leaking the backstage documents was an attempt to interfere with a just proceedings by poisoning the assemblage excavation toward a cardinal witness.
They said astatine the time:
“In summation to tainting the assemblage pool, the effect, if not the intent, of the defendant’s behaviour is not lone to harass Ellison, but besides to deter different imaginable proceedings witnesses from testifying.”
The station SBF agrees to gag bid aft New York Times nonfiction raises tampering concerns appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.