FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried who was arrested and threatened with a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison and is currently free on bail for USD 250 million, is prohibited from using the Signal application. Why?
The ban was issued by prosecutors, who asked federal courts to toughen the rules for Bankman-Fried who is out on bail. He was banned from using Signal for fear that it would be used to contact his colleagues regarding the case, we were quoted as saying from Engadget, Monday (30/1/2023).
In court documents seen by the New York Times, attorneys for the US Department of Justice allege Bankman-Fried tried to contact FTX's lawyers using Signal and email in early January. Bankman-Fried is said to have tried to influence the testimony of witnesses in this way.
"I would very much like to reconnect and see if there is a way we can have a constructive relationship, also use each other's resources where possible, or at least sort things out together," Bankman-Fried said in one of the messages.
That's why the US Department of Justice also asked the judge to prohibit Bankman-Fried from contacting current and former FTX employees, as well as from using Signal or various other encrypted messaging applications.
Previously, Bankman-Fried's assets were confiscated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), most of which were in the form of Robinhood shares. It is known that the value of the confiscated Robinhood shares reached USD 525 million. The amount has been the subject of a dispute between Bankman, FTX, and crypto lender BlockFi.
The confiscation was also carried out by the Department of Justice, which led to USD 94.5 million in cash. The money was obtained through a Silvergate Bank account, which has ties to FTX Digital Markets, a subsidiary of FTX in the Bahamas.
It didn't stop there, they also confiscated USD 7 million from a similar bank with a different account. So before that, the Department of Justice also held USD 50 million from the FTX Digital Markets account at Moonstone Bank.
Other assets in the three Binance accounts were also affected by the forfeiture. That way the total itself is almost USD 700 million. The confiscation of the assets of the FTX boss was the result of a crime he committed, in which Sam Bankman Fried was charged with fraud against his investors.