FTX Ex-CEO Requests Exemption from Security Checks

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried desires that his “close friends” not be subject to security checks when they visit him at his parents’ house.

In a letter dated July 13 to New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, attorneys for Bankman-Fried requested the judge permit “close friends” on a submitted list to visit him without undergoing court-ordered security measures stipulated in his bail conditions.

These include the presence of a security guard at the residence to screen visitors for electronic devices and the requirement that visitors sign an electronic visitor log.

Only Bankman-Fried’s attorneys and employees of his contracted law firm are currently exempt from the checks.

Attorneys have requested that the measures be extended to court-approved visitors.

According to the letter, the list, which prosecutors reviewed without objection, includes “close friends and colleagues of Bankman-Fried’s parents and household help who frequently visit the house.”

The list was filed under seal, with the attorneys arguing that the safety and privacy of those mentioned “greatly outweigh any presumption of access to the list.”

As part of the bail conditions outlined by Kaplan, Bankman-Fried is only permitted to use a laptop and is restricted from accessing court-approved websites, such as YouTube.

He also has a phone that lacks internet access and can only make and receive phone calls and texts.

The attorneys stated that the individuals on the list “are aware of and will abide by” Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions, which prohibit sharing electronic devices with him.

Since being granted bail in December 2022, Bankman-Fried has resided at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California — the same home was used as collateral for his $250 million bail bond.

The trial for the 13 charges against Bankman-Fried was scheduled to begin on October 2, but five were divided into a second trial scheduled to start on March 11, 2024.