Former FTX Executive Sam Bankman-Fried Arraigned on Fraud and Conspiracy Charges

Former FTX executive Sam Bankman-Fried is set to be arraigned on Tuesday in federal court in Lower Manhattan on seven fraud and conspiracy charges. Bankman-Fried’s bail was revoked earlier this month after a federal judge found probable cause to believe he attempted to influence witnesses in his case. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered the revocation of Bankman-Fried’s bail following allegations that he harassed a key witness by showing a journalist her private writings and reaching out to the general counsel for FTX through encrypted communication. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that he was merely trying to protect his reputation against negative news stories. Judge Kaplan, however, concluded that there was probable cause to believe Bankman-Fried had attempted to tamper with witnesses on at least two occasions since his arrest in December.

The 31-year-old had been under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, since his extradition from the Bahamas in December. Bankman-Fried is accused of defrauding investors in his businesses and diverting millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from customers using his FTX exchange.