Prosecutors Agree on New Bail Conditions for Sam Bankman-Fried

• Prosecutors have reached a revised bail condition for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
• The new bail conditions will allow SBF access to a phone without internet capability.
• SBF will also be given a laptop with only basic functions.

Prosecutors have reached a revised bail condition for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the embattled former Chief Executive of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX. According to reports, SBF’s lawyers and the U.S. prosecutors reached an agreement after a judge considered sending him to jail pending trial.

The new bail conditions will reportedly allow SBF access to a phone without internet capability. It will also give him access to a laptop with basic functions, and those two will be all about his interaction with electronic devices.

Monitoring software will be installed on the laptop, and SBF will not have administrative access to the device, preventing him from tampering with the settings or altering the restrictions placed on the device. The phone will only permit SBF to send text messages and make voice calls, and no other messaging applications will be installed on the phone.

The application by SBF’s lawyers also contained an agreement by his parents to restrict him from using their devices. They also signed an affidavit that they would not bring any restricted device into their home. The letter also stated that in the case of any reasonable suspicion of a violation, SBF must submit his devices for scrutiny.

With both parties reaching an agreement, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is in charge of the case, would need to approve before it becomes effective.

Prosecutors brought criminal charges against SBF after the collapse of the FTX exchange in late 2022. They charged him with stealing large sums of money from FTX to plug the losses in his hedge fund, Alameda Research. They also accused him of using customers’ funds for illegal political lobbying to seek influence in Washington D.C.

SBF has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the eight counts which they have arraigned him for. Four more charges are pending, as he remains on bail for now.

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