The former boss of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, was sent to prison on Friday by a federal judge in New York who ruled that he had failed to comply with the provisions of his parole.
Bankman-Fried had been awaiting trial under house arrest at his parents’ home in California after posting $250 million bail. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including fraud and conspiracy, brought against him over the months.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered Bankman-Fried's bail revoked after prosecutors said he had tried to harass a key witness in his fraud case last month when he showed a journalist her private writings and in January when he reached out to the general counsel for FTX with an encrypted communication.
His lawyers insisted he should not be jailed for trying to protect his reputation against a barrage of unfavorable news stories.
Kaplan said he had concluded there was probable cause to believe Bankman-Fried had tried to “tamper with witnesses at least twice” since his arrest in December.
The defence team said it would appeal against the incarceration order. It asked for an immediate stay of the order.
