FTX’s Bankman-Fried Denies Witness Tampering, Gets Gag Order – One America News Network

Written by Mrinmai Day

(Reuters) – Lawyers for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried rejected claims by prosecutors that his discussion with a New York Times reporter amounted to witness tampering, but agreed to a gag order, according to a letter to a criminal fraud judge.

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The letter, released Sunday, comes after prosecutors sought to bar Bankman-Fried and allies from making public statements that could hinder the case.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, once valued at $32 billion, filed for bankruptcy in November after failing to return money to investors. Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to fraud.

In a letter, Bankman-Frieda’s lawyer confirmed that he had spoken with and provided the New York Times with personal documents that included documents written by former colleague Caroline Ellison, who worked with the US government.

“Bankman-Fried did not violate a protective order in this case, he did not violate any conditions of his bail, and he did not violate any laws or regulations governing his conduct,” Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, said in the letter.

An article published by the New York Times titled “Inside the Private Records of Caroline Ellison, Star Witness in the FTX Case,” cites excerpts from Ellison’s personal Google documents before the FTX collapse in which she spoke of being “very unhappy and overwhelmed” by her job and feeling “hurt/rejected” by the breakup with Bankman-Fried.

Ellison ran Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research hedge fund and pleaded guilty to defrauding investors and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Bankman-Fried said in December that he and Ellison were in a relationship, but did not provide further details.

(Reporting by Mrinmai Day; Editing by Christopher Cushing)