DOJ seeks use of flip phones, limit Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail

Limited to Bankman-Fried’s communications are a flip phone or other non-smartphone with disabled internet capabilities.

A court document published late on March 3 reveals that the United States Department of Justice has sought additional bail terms for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).

In accordance with a petition made to the Southern District of New York’s District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Bankman-Fried should be restricted from using cellphones, tablets, laptops, and any video game platforms or devices that provide chat and voice contact.

The idea confines his communication to “a flip phone or other non-smartphone with no or disabled internet capability.”

The petition submitted by attorney Damian Williams “on behalf of parties” also begs that the newly imposed interim bail terms be made permanent.

It is thought that the strategy was prepared with his defense team, who had demanded a proposal by March 3.

The interim conditions include no contact or communication with current or past employees of FTX or Alameda Research, save in the presence of legal counsel, as well as a restriction on utilizing any encrypted or ephemeral call or messaging service, as well as a virtual private network (VPN).

In addition, Bankman-Fried’s access to websites would be limited to a whitelist of pre-approved pages, such as YouTube, Wikipedia, Etherscan, NFL, DoorDash, Netflix, and government websites.

Under the proposed rules, the former CEO of FTX will also be permitted to surf news websites.

Moreover, Bankman-Fried’s laptop would be watched by security software that logs his internet activities.

Moreover, the plan states:

“​​Fifth, the defendant will not object to the installation of court-authorized pen registers on his phone number, Gmail account, and internet service. Those pen register orders will be sought by the Government and maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Since February 9, when it was found that Bankman-Fried had talked to possible witnesses in his case, his $250 million bond has been closely looked at.

In addition, he was temporarily prohibited from accessing a virtual private network (VPN) after prosecutors accused him of using one on January 29 and February 12.

The court released a new indictment against Bankman-Fried on February 22. It included 12 criminal counts, including eight fraud-related conspiracy charges and four wire fraud and securities fraud offenses.