Former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) proposes the names of two technology consultants that will help determine appropriate bail restrictions in his criminal fraud case. SBF was given a deadline of Friday to propose names of at least a technical consultant to prevent him from more bail restrictions.
Lawyers representing Sam Bankman-Fried on Wednesday submitted details on two people that will help US District Judge Lewis Kaplan decide appropriate bail restrictions for him. SBF proposed Edward Stroz and Michael McGowan in the filing.
Edward Stroz has worked as an FBI agent for over 15 years and managed a global digital forensics and computer investigations firm for nearly two decades.
Michael McGowan is a digital forensics consultant for more than 19 years. He has led several high-profile cases, such as authenticating baseball player Alex Rodriguez’s text messages on drug use and revealing a forged contract in a lawsuit filed against Mark Zuckerberg for half his Facebook shares.
Judge Kaplan in February asked Sam Bankman-Fried to suggest a technical consultant that will help determine appropriate restrictions in his bail. Defendants are given a fair chance to present their side in U.S. law, which balances the defendant’s rights and needs with the integrity of the judicial process.
Federal prosecutors earlier allege SBF for using encrypted-messaging apps and VPN to contact FTX employees and executives. Prosecutors asked the court to extend his bail conditions due to fresh allegations.
The judge threatened to completely revoke SBF’s bail conditions and send him to jail if he is not satisfied with the restrictions, ahead of his trial in October.
Recently, SBF was hit with 4 new charges including securities fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, political contributions that manipulated the U.S. 2022 midterm elections. SBF is under house arrest with a bond set at $250 million and his trial scheduled on October 2. As of now, Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all counts of charges.
