Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder and former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, walked out of a Manhattan courthouse Thursday after being released on a $250 million bound, according to the Associated Press.
The assistant U.S. attorney Nicolas Roos reportedly said this is believed to be the largest federal pretrial bond ever. Bankman-Fried will be under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California until his next hearing in New York City on Jan. 3.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein agreed to the bond, approved house arrest and required an ankle-monitor be attached to Bankman-Fried before he left the courthouse.
According to the AP, the bond was secured by equity on Bankman-Fried’s parent’s home, as well as the signature of them and two other people with considerable assets.
Bankman-Fried faces eight counts of conspiracy and criminal activity related to wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and violation of campaign finance laws. He was extradited to the US after being arrested in the Bahamas.
Bankman-Fried resigned as FTX’s CEO in November after the cryptocurrency platform filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“I was the CEO of FTX. That means I was responsible,” Bankman-Fried said during a live interview at The New York Times’ Dealbook Summit on Nov. 30, but he has denied criminal wrongdoing and intent.
John Ray, FTX’s new CEO, called the FTX collapse “plain, old embezzlement,” earlier in December.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced two former associates of Bankman-Fried’s pleaded guilty to federal criminal fraud charges. Carolyn Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, a trading firm started by Bankman-Fried, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud. Both Ellison and Wang are cooperating with authorities.
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