Following a recent judgment made by United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan, it is possible that the identity of the two individuals who assisted former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried “SBF” with his $250 million bail bond may be disclosed next month.
According to the document that was filed on January 30, Kaplan approved the joint petition from eight media outlets to unseal the names of the two persons.
This was done for the limited purpose of claiming the public’s claimed right of access to the identities of the people in question. However, he did make the observation that there was not a great deal of evidence supporting either side of the debate.
It is also not assured that the identities of the guarantors will be unsealed, as Kaplan has allowed the legal counsel for SBF until February 7 to decide whether or not to dispute the order.
The court acknowledged the likelihood of an appeal and said that he would grant a fresh stay motion if submitted by February 14 should a notice of appeal from this judgment be filed by that date.
Uncovering the SBF bail mystery
When SBF’s parents secured his release from jail using a bail package worth $250 million, it prompted many to wonder how the house could have been used to obtain such an enormous quantity of money.
In a letter dated January 12 and written to District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, eight prominent media outlets, including Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and Reuters, asked that the identities of the two persons responsible for ensuring the bail be made public.
According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, it has now come to light that the property, which has five bedrooms, is also located on land that his parents, both of whom are professors at Stanford University, leased from their company. The report noted that this might create obstacles in the future sale of the home and in estimating its worth.
Combined, the fact that SBF consented to be extradited to the United States from the Bahamas in December and that his parents agreed to put up their property as collateral might assist the prosecution in convincing the court that he does not pose a threat of fleeing the jurisdiction.
What has SBF been up to?
SBF has been spending his time playing video games by himself while he is under house arrest awaiting the start of his trial in October, he disclosed to Teddy Schleifer of Puck, who joined him for an interview.
His other guests have included the cryptocurrency YouTuber Tiffany Fong and the author of The Big Short, Michael Lewis, who is now writing a book on him and FTX, as was reported by Cryptopolitan last year.
Bankman-Fried has also been writing on Substack, where he said earlier this month that he did not steal money and that he most definitely did not squirrel away billions of dollars.
SBF continues to blame Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao for the failure of his enterprises, and he has tweeted disparaging comments about FTX’s current CEO John Ray, who is guiding the exchange through its protracted bankruptcy.
