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Federal prosecutors are attempting to ban FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried from privately contacting present and former workers of the bankrupt cryptocurrency alternate to forestall potential witness tampering in a legal case accusing him of bilking traders and prospects.

The request, made in a letter filed late Friday by U.S. Justice Division legal professionals, prompted an indignant response from Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, who accused prosecutors of twisting the details to forged the FTX founder in a sinister gentle forward of his trial scheduled later this 12 months.

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The testy alternate prompted U.S. District Choose Lewis Kaplan in New York to difficulty a Saturday order that included admonishment for the opposing legal professionals within the case to chorus from “pejorative characterizations” of one another’s actions and motives.

Bankman-Fried, 30, has been beneath confinement at his dad and mom’ dwelling in Palo Alto, California, since pleading not responsible earlier this month to fees towards him. He’s accused of diverting huge sums of FTX buyer funds to purchase property, donate to politicians and finance dangerous trades at Alameda Analysis, his cryptocurrency hedge fund buying and selling agency.

Federal prosecutors raised their issues about Bankman-Fried’s makes an attempt to attach with potential witnesses within the case after discovering he despatched an encrypted message over the Sign texting app on Jan. 15 to the final counsel of FTX US, based on their letter to Kaplan.

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“I might actually like to reconnect and see if there’s a approach for us to have a constructive relationship, use one another as assets when doable, or a minimum of vet issues with one another,” Bankman-Fried wrote to the FTX normal counsel, dubbed “Witness 1,” within the prosecutors’ letter.

Federal prosecutors informed Kaplan that Bankman-Fried’s communications are an indication that he could also be making an attempt in affect a witness with incriminating proof towards him. As a safeguard, the prosecutors need Kaplan to revise the situations of Bankman-Fried’s bail so he can’t talk with present or former workers of FTX and Alameda Analysis exterior the presence of a lawyer with no waiver from the Justice Division.

However Bankman-Fried’s legal professional, Mark Cohen, painted a a lot totally different image in his fiery retort to the prosecutors. Cohen described Bankman-Fried’s effort to achieve the FTX normal counsel as “an innocuous try to supply help in FTX’s chapter course of.”

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In his Saturday order, Kaplan demanded full copies of Bankman-Fried’s digital communications to be offered by Monday.

Federal prosecutors additionally need Kaplan to alter the situations of Bankman-Fried’s bail to forestall him from speaking via Sign, which has an auto-delete choice to make messages shortly disappear as well as encryption know-how to assist protect the contents from outsiders.

“Utilizing Sign to contact potential witnesses will increase the probability that detection of any try to hinder justice by influencing a witness will itself be obstructed,” the prosecutors informed Kaplan.

However Cohen wrote that the message despatched to the FTX normal counsel didn’t have an auto-delete characteristic. Cohen additionally assured the decide that Bankman-Fried has turned off the disappearing messages choice in his Sign account.

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“The federal government can not justify a bail situation based mostly on an unfounded concern about what Mr. Bankman-Fried may do, when there isn’t a proof that he’s, the truth is, doing it,” Cohen stated.

Earlier than prosecutors requested the decide to impose broad restrictions that may stop Bankman-Fried from privately speaking with any present or former FTX workers, Cohen stated the 2 sides had already been in negotiations to achieve a “affordable” compromise earlier than prosecutors “sandbagged” the talks with their late Friday letter to Kaplan.

By Cohen’s estimate, FTX and Alameda Analysis have about 350 present and former workers who can be blocked off from Bankman-Fried by a blanket ban, together with some that may have essential data for his protection throughout a trial tentatively scheduled to start in October.

Bankman-Fried was keen to voluntarily comply with a prohibition towards him speaking with a number of prime FTX executives in alternate for being allowed to stay in touch with others similar to his father, his therapist nonetheless employed by the cryptocurrency alternate and a variety of different unidentified staff who immediately attain out to him.

Kaplan informed federal prosecutors to answer Cohen’s claims in his seven-page letter by Monday.