Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried allowed flip phone, laptop while on bail

Sam Bankman-Fried; image: Flickr [under the Creative Commons License]

Sam Bankman-Fried, who is temporarily on bail, has asked to be allowed to keep a flip phone without internet access and a basic laptop with limited features, Reuters reports.

The DOJ has asked that Bankman-Fried’s use of all other electronic communication devices be banned, though.

This suggestion was delivered to a federal judge in Manhattan late on Friday by the government and Bankman-Fried’s legal counsel.

Bankman-Fried is the accused creator of the FTX coin exchange.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s communication device restrictions will ultimately be decided by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the case.

Judge Kaplan had made a suggestion during a hearing on February 16 that Bankman-Fried might be imprisoned for violating the terms of his $250 million bail because of his activities, which included trying to contact potential government witnesses and watching football on a virtual private network.

The court stated that he did not want to release Bankman-Fried into a world full of electronic devices and that he had reservations about granting him unrestricted access to electronic devices.

In response to the prosecution’s claims that Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars from FTX clients to cover losses at his hedge fund Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried entered a not-guilty plea.

On February 23, Bankman-Fried was publicly indicted on 12 counts of criminal behavior.

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