FTX founder Bankman-Fried released on US$250 million bond at US court appearance
NEW YORK: Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a US$250 million bond package while he awaits trial on fraud charges related to the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange.Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have accused him of stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.Bankman-Fried was not asked to enter a plea on Thursday.
He has previously acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, but has said he does not believe he has criminal liability. His defense lawyer, Mark Cohen, declined to comment after the hearing in Manhattan federal court.Nicolas Roos, a prosecutor, told US Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein that the bail package would require Bankman-Fried to surrender his passport and remain in home confinement at his parents' home in Palo Alto, California.
He would also be required to undergo regular mental health treatment and evaluation.Roos called the package the "largest ever pretrial bond".Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested last week in the Bahamas, where he lived and where FTX is based, cementing the one-time billionaire's fall from grace.
He departed the Caribbean nation in FBI custody on Wednesday night.Cohen said he agreed with prosecutors' proposed bail conditions.
