SBF Barred From Communicating with FTX Employees

NEW YORK CITY, NY – A New York judge has prohibited Sam Bankman-Fried from communicating with current or former employees from FTX and Alameda Research, in a court order filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors that amended the FTX founder’s bail conditions.

The order includes the “use of any encrypted or ephemeral call or messaging application, including but not limited to Signal.” Signal is known as the world’s most secure messaging app using end-to-end encryption through which no one but the two parties involved can listen and communicate. 

It further states that SBF has been in contact with other current and former employees of his businesses who may be called to testify in the trial, set for October 3, 2023.

Federal prosecutors specifically state that SBF “initiated contact with Witness-1” on Jan. 15 in which he stated, “I would really love to reconnect see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other.” Witness-1 has been identified as Ryne Miller, general counsel for FTX. 

SBF’s defense attorney, Mark Cohen, pushed back against the decision, filing a motion on Jan. 28 to allow his client to communicate with a “reasonable list of potential witnesses that he could only contact with counsel present.” 

A hearing on the motion is set for Feb. 7.