FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried may be stuck using a dumb phone for the foreseeable future. In a letter seen by , prosecutors involved in their criminal case said Friday that lawyers for Bankman-Fried have agreed to modify the terms of their bail agreement. As long as the judge overseeing the case agrees to the changes, SBF will be limited to using a “non-smartphone” without an internet connection. Unless an attorney is present, you will also be prohibited from communicating with current or former employees of FTX and Alameda Research. Also, SBF will not be able to use encrypted messaging apps, including Signal.
The proposed restrictions come after Bankman-Fried allegedly tried to contact the general counsel of FTX’s US subsidiary earlier in the year. “I would really love to reconnect and see if there is a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least look into things with each other,” he said in a message, according to the Justice Department. .
Earlier in the week, Nishad Singh, a former engineering director at FTX, was indicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges. Singh is the third of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to cooperate with prosecutors in the case against him. Late last year, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang pleaded guilty to fraud charges and said they would cooperate with investigators.
According Bloomberg, District Judge Lewis Kaplan threatened to revoke Bankman-Fried’s bail and send him to jail before the start of his trial after learning the disgraced businessman might have influenced potential witnesses. Last month, Kaplan also banned Bankman-Fried from using a virtual private network (VPN) after his lawyers said he used one to watch a football game. According to ReutersKaplan said he did not want SBF “loose in this garden of electronic devices”.
Under the modified bail agreement, SBF would be allowed to use a laptop to surf the web, but his access would be filtered through a VPN that would limit him to two categories of websites. One category would include resources that your defense team believes are critical to your case. The other features a list of 23 websites that SBF could use to order food, read the news, and watch streaming content. It is not yet known if the proposed restrictions would limit you from playing League of Legends.
All Engadget Recommended products are curated by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publication.
