Bankman-Fried Recommends Tech Experts to Decide Bail

Will FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried remain free on bail?

A former FBI agent and a digital forensic consultant could help decide the question in the ongoing legal proceedings against the one-time cryptocurrency wunderkind accused of masterminding a multibillion fraud.

Bankman-Fried has recommended those experts as the judge handling the criminal proceedings against him tries to decide appropriate bail terms, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday (March 1).

The report, citing court documents, says Bankman-Fried has chosen Edward Stroz, who spent 15 years with the FBI and another 20 overseeing digital forensics and computer investigation in the private sector, to advise Judge Edward Kaplan.

His other chosen expert is Michael McGowan, a digital forensics consultant whose resume includes disproving the case of a man who sued Mark Zuckerberg for half his shares in Facebook by proving he had forged a contract at the center of the lawsuit, Bloomberg reported.

Kaplan last month threatened to revoke Bankman-Fried’s bail if the former FTX CEO couldn’t agree to tougher restrictions on his use of electronic devices, apps and internet access.

Bankman-Fried’s attorney has called the judge’s proposal “draconian,” while saying there is “no margin for error” for his client, who is “on trial for his life.”

Defense attorneys have been battling with government prosecutors over the terms of Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail and his use of electronic communications. It’s a debate that took on a new dimension last month due to Bankman-Fried’s alleged improper use of a virtual private network (VPN) to access the internet.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyer claimed his client was just trying to watch the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl and only used the VPN to access the Bahamian site his account is tied to, an argument Kaplan did not buy.

“So, what he was doing was sitting in California in the United States using the VPN to create the impression that he was going to use this international subscription from outside the U.S.,” the judge said.

Bankman-Fried is set to go on trial in October. He is accused of multiple criminal counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations, according to a recently unsealed federal indictment.

Earlier this week, a one-time member of his inner circle — former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh — pleaded guilty to multiple offenses and has agreed to cooperate with authorities.