Listen to this articleJane Rosenberg/Reuters
- Sam Bankman-Fried appealed a judge’s decision to release the names of his bail guarantors.
- Besides his parents, two as-yet-unidentified people cosigned the $250 million bail bond to get the FTX founder released from jail.
- Bankman-Fried’s attorneys argued the potential of physical threats were reasons to keep their identities sealed.
Sam Bankman-Fried doesn’t want the public to know the names of the wealthy backers who helped bail him out of jail while he awaits trial.
Attorneys for the FTX founder appealed a judge’s decision to reveal the two non-parental cosigners of his $250 million bail bond, according to a court filing on Tuesday.
This comes a week after US District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in favor of a joint petition by multiple media companies seeking the names of the bail guarantors. The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Bloomberg, along with a slew of other newsrooms, have all filed a suit to get the court to unseal the names.
“The public’s interest in this matter cannot be overstated,” a January 12 filing reads. “Mr. Bankman-Fried stands accused of perpetrating one of the largest financial frauds in history.”
Bankman-Fried’s lawyer Mark Cohen previously argued that revealing the cosigners names could result in physical threats for the two individuals, similar to what Bankman-Fried’s parents have faced.
“In recent weeks, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents have become the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats,” Cohen said last month. “Among other things, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents have received a steady stream of threatening correspondence, including communications expressing a desire that they suffer physical harm.”
Federal prosecutors have accused Bankman-Fried of defrauding investors. The eight criminal charges he faces, including wire fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance violations, carry a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
