Two Stanford University professors were previously unknown guarantors of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Freed on a $250 million bail. The Block.
Former law school dean Larry Cramer signed a $500,000 bond, and senior fellow Andreas Pepke signed $200,000, according to court documents.
The main amount of the pledge was provided by the parents of the founder of the exchange – Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, who also taught at the educational institution.
Initially, the names of two anonymous guarantors were removed from the documents. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued this with issues of confidentiality and security of guarantors.
About revealing their names in January media group solicited. The law firm Davis Wright Tremaine filed a corresponding statement on behalf of the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Financial Times, CNBC, Reuters, Insider, publishers of the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
Among the arguments were the severity of the charges against Bankman-Fried and public outcry.
At the end of the month, Judge Lewis Kaplan granted the motion. Since the defendant’s lawyers had the right to challenge the decision, it entered into force on 14 February.
On December 12, Bahamas authorities arrested the founder and ex-CEO of FTX at the request of the US government. As part of the investigation into the collapse of the stock exchange, US prosecutors charged him with eight criminal offenses. Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty.
On December 23, the court released him on $250 million bail. Prosecutors had previously requested a change in the conditions of Bankman-Freed’s house arrest. Law enforcement officers suspected him of using the Signal messenger to send encrypted messages to a witness. Then he was caught using a VPN.
Larry Kramer, in a commentary to The Block, noted that he decided to act as a guarantor “for personal reasons.”
Kramer added that he had no “interests in the case under consideration” and was not ready to comment on it or express any position.
In February, the court deferred two civil lawsuits by regulators against Bankman-Fried’s founder until the criminal case against him was completed.
Source: Cryptocurrency
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