Sam Bankman-Fried, a cryptocurrency businessman accused of defrauding investors and stealing customer deposits from his FTX trading platform, left the Manhattan courthouse with his parents on Thursday after they agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him in their California home while he awaits trial.
Bankman-Fried, 30, "perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions," according to assistant US attorney Nicolas Roos in federal court. In addition to the $250 million bond, which Roos claimed is the largest federal pretrial bond ever, he also suggested house arrest at his parents' Palo Alto home.
An important reason for allowing bail was that Bankman-Fried, who had been jailed in the Bahamas, agreed to be extradited to the U.S., Roos said.
Reunited with his parents and lawyers inside the courthouse, an apparently silent Bankman-Fried shook the hands of a supporter before heading out the door, where photographers and video crews rushed him until he left in a car.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein agreed to the bond and house arrest, though he required that an electronic monitoring bracelet be affixed to Bankman-Fried before he left the courthouse. Roos had recommended it be attached Friday in California.
Bankman-Fried was shackled at the ankles when he entered the courtroom in a suit and tie to take a seat between his attorneys. He did not speak during the hearing except to answer the judge. Near its end, he was asked by Gorenstein whether he understood he would face arrest and owe $250 million if he chose to flee.
"Yes, I do," Bankman-Fried answered.
Soon afterward, the hearing ended and Bankman-Fried, his hands in his front pants pockets, was led out by two U.S. marshals. His next court date was scheduled for Jan. 3, when he is to appear before the judge who will preside over the case.
His bail conditions also require that he not open any new lines of credit, start a business or enter financial transactions larger than $1,000 without the approval of the government or the court.
The bond was to be secured by the equity in his parents' home and the signature of them and two other financially responsible people with considerable assets, Roos said. The bail was described as a "personal recognizance bond," meaning the collateral did not need to meet the bail amount.
Bankman-Fried, arrested in the Bahamas last week, was flown to New York late Wednesday after deciding not to challenge his extradition.
While he was in the air, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan announced that two of Bankman-Fried's closest business associates had also been charged and on Monday had secretly pleaded guilty.
Carolyn Ellison, 28, the former chief executive of Bankman-Fried's trading firm, Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, 29, who co-founded FTX, pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a video statement that both were cooperating with investigators and had agreed to assist in any prosecution. He warned others who enabled the alleged fraud to come forward.
"If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it," he said. "We are moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal."
Prosecutors and regulators contend that Bankman-Fried was at the center of several illegal schemes to use customer and investor money for personal gain. He faces the possibility of decades in prison if convicted on all counts.
In a series of interviews before his arrest, Bankman-Fried said he never intended to defraud anyone.
Bankman-Fried is charged with using money, illicitly taken from FTX customers, to enable trades at Alameda, spend lavishly on real estate and make millions of dollars in campaign contributions to U.S. politicians.
FTX, founded in 2019, rode the crypto investing phenomenon to great heights, quickly becoming one of the world's largest exchanges for digital currency. Seeking customers beyond the tech world, it hired the comic actor and writer Larry David to appear in a TV ad that ran during the Super Bowl, hyping crypto as the next big thing.
However, Bankman-Fried's crypto empire abruptly came to an end in early November when customers withdrew their deposits in large numbers as a result of reports casting doubt on some of its financial arrangements.
With inputs from Agencies.
