On Tuesday, the FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to the numerous federal charges he faces concerning the fall of his cryptocurrency empire. After his request to appear remotely for the arraignment hearing was denied, the 30-year-old businessman appeared at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. Lawyers spoke on behalf of Bankman-Fried, who did not speak at the hearing.
Less than two weeks have passed since Bankman-Fried’s release from federal custody on a $250 million personal recognizance bond and electronic monitoring at his parents’ Palo Alto, California, home.
To protect the identities of two other people who helped secure Bankman- Fried’s release, his legal team submitted a letter motion to the court before the hearing.
“In recent weeks, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents have become the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats,” attorney Mark Cohen wrote in the filing. “Consequently, there is serious cause for concern that the two additional sureties would face similar intrusions on their privacy as well as threats and harassment if their names appear unredacted on their bonds or their identities are otherwise publicly disclosed.”
Kaplan granted the request to keep the names and addresses of the two additional co-signers private. Still, he cautioned that he made the ruling without prejudice to any future applications from the press or the public to release that information.
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