U.S. federal prosecutors have asked District Judge Lewis Kalpan to restrict communications for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Freed, suspected of fraud.

The US Department of Justice sent its request due to the fact that Sam Bankman-Fried contacted the employees of the FTX exchange. Among them is FTX.US Legal Counsel Ryne Miller. Prosecutors say the former FTX CEO tried to influence a key witness in the case.

“I would like to restore relations, maybe it would be a constructive dialogue. We could use each other’s resources or, at least, agree on testimony, ”the prosecutors quoted Sam Bankman-Fried as saying.

Bankman-Fried used the Signal app to talk to Miller. Also with his help, he contacted current and former employees of the FTX exchange, but the prosecutors did not mention their names, stating only that the founder of the exchange had previously “supervised these people, paid them money, so they are most vulnerable to intimidation.”

The letter also notes that Sam Bankman-Fried, when FTX was still working, used the automatic deletion of messages in the Signal and Slack messengers, because he “knew that if there was no written confirmation of his words, then it would be more difficult to bring him to court.”

“Using this feature made it difficult for the government to investigate. Potential witnesses reported conversations with Sam Bankman-Freed that could have been attached to the case, but the messages have already been automatically deleted, ”the US Department of Justice representatives lament.

Earlier it was reported that the total amount of assets confiscated from the founder of the FTX exchange amounted to almost $ 700 million. At the same time, more than half of them are shares of the Robinhood service.