| FTX
Bankman Fried
Pitches New
VNP Use While
Noting 2 More
Alameda Staff
Laptops
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 8 –
Sam
Bankman-Fried
of FTX was
indicted in
the U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York,
leading to his
arrest in the
Bahamas on
December 12, and
extradition to
the US on
December 21.
On
February 28,
with
Bankman-Fried free
on bond, FTX's
Nishad Singh pleaded
guilty to six
criminal
charges. Inner
City Press put the
charging document
on its DocumentCloud
here.
On
March 1,
Bankman-Fried's
lawyers and
the SDNY
prosecutors -
together -
proposed to
Judge Kaplan
two candidates
as his
technical
expert: Edward
Stroz
($695/hr) and
Michael
McGowan
($650/hr). We'll
have more on
this - for
now, more on
Substack here
On
March 3, the
US Attorney's
Office which
chose to give
Bankman-Fried
freedom on bond
then declined
to seek remand proposed
to Judge
Kaplan
conditions: "The
defendant is
prohibited
from using a
VPN, except as
explicitly
authorized in
his bail
conditions, as
described
below... The
parties agree
that the
following
websites would
be whitelisted
through the
law firm VPN:
the Relativity
database
hosted by
defense
counsel for
purposes of
reviewing
discovery;
Google Drive
and Google
Docs, which
defense
counsel uses
with clients
to share
information;
Gmail, which
will be
accessed
through a
single email
address
provided to
the Court and
the Government... Full
letter on
Patreon here.
On
March 8,
Bankman-Fried's
lawyer went
further on VPN
use,
saying the US
has no objection,
and adding
that "We also
understand
from the
Government
that we have
not yet
received a
substantial
portion of the
discovery,
including,
among other
things, the
search warrant
returns from
thirty (30)
different
Google
accounts and
the contents
of at least
four different
electronic
devices,
including an
iPhone
belonging to
Caroline
Ellison, a
laptop
computer
belonging to
Zixiao “Gary”
Wang, and
laptop
computers
belonging to
two other
former
FTX/Alameda
employees."
Full letter on
Patreon here.
Who are these
other two?
Bankman-Fried
was released
on $250
million bond - and
reappeared on
January 3, see
below -
with the
requirement of
co-signers.
But
he wanted them
secret:
"LETTER MOTION
addressed to
Judge Lewis A.
Kaplan from
Mark S. Cohen
dated January
3, 2023 re:
Request to
Redact Names
and
Identifying
Information
for Certain
Bail Sureties." Six
page letter on
Patreon here -
Inner
City Press nearly
immediately opposed,
here. That
was Docket
Number 31. And it
ultimately
prevailed,
see below.
On
February 23,
SBF was hit
with new
charges in a
superseding
indictment: bank
fraud and
operating an
unlicensed
money
transmitter
“falsely
represented to
a financial
institution
that the [North
Dimension] account
would be used
for trading
and market
making,” when
in fact it was
to be used to
receive and
transmit
customer funds.
SBF et
al. “agreed
to and did
make corporate
contributions
to candidates
and committees
in the
Southern
District of
New York that
were reported
in the name of
another person."
Inner City
Press quickly
published
the superseder
here.
On the
evening of
February 23,
the US
Attorney's
Office wrote
to Judge
Kaplan about
the two new
charges,
stating that
"The
Government
respectfully
suggests that
the Court
arraign the
defendant on
the S3
Indictment at
the next court
appearance
that arises,
or at the
scheduled oral
argument on
May 18, 2023,
whichever
comes first.
The Government
requests that
the Court
exclude time
under the
Speedy Trial
Act to October
2, 2023, the
first day of
trial." Letter
on Patreon
here.
Back on
January 30,
Judge Kaplan
granted the
motion to
unseal - but
stayed the
order until
February 7 to allow
for an appeal.
Inner
City Press
(Matthew
Russell Lee,
intervenor pro
se) unloaded the
order to DocumentCloud here
At 2 pm
on February 7,
Bankman-Fried's
lawyers filed
notice of
their appeal
to the Second
Circuit, to (try to) keep
the names
secret.
But on
February 15,
Judge Kramer ordered
unsealing: "ORDER
as to Samuel
Bankman-Fried,
Zixiao (Gary)
Wang, Caroline
Ellison. On
January 30,
2023, the
Court issued
an order
granting the
motions of
several news
organizations
to unseal the
names of
defendant's
non-parental
bail sureties.
(Dkt 57) Given
the novelty of
the question
presented and
the likelihood
of appeal, the
Court stayed
the order
"until 5 p.m.
on February 7,
2023 and, if a
notice of
appeal from
th[at] order
[was] filed by
then, until
February 14,
2023 at 5 p.m.
in order to
permit an
application
for a further
stay to be
made to the
Court of
Appeals should
any adversely
affected party
wish to file
one." (Dkt 57,
at 12.) On
February 7,
2023,
Defendant
timely filed a
notice of
appeal from
the January
30, 2023
Order. As of
today,
however, no
application
for a further
stay has been
made to the
Court of
Appeals.
Accordingly,
the Clerk
shall file on
the
unrestricted
public record
complete
copies of the
redacted bonds
previously
docketed as
Dkt 55 and 56.
SO ORDERED.
(Signed by
Judge Lewis A.
Kaplan on
2/15/2023)."
Inner City
Press
published that
- and then the
two names: Larry
Kramer,
former dean of
Stanford Law,
and Andreas
Paepcke of
Stanford
InfoLab, photos here
and here.
Watch this
site.
The
case is US v.
Bankman-Fried,
et al.,
22-cr-673
(Kaplan)
***
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