Sam Bankman-Fried wants 'close friends' to visit without a security pat down

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried wants to be able to have his “close friends” visit him at his parent's home without them being subject to security checks.

In a July 13 letter to New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, lawyers representing Bankman-Fried requested the judge allow “close friends” on a submitted list to visit him without needing to go through court-ordered security measures set out in his bail conditions.

These include having a security guard present at the house to screen visitors for electronic devices and having visitors sign an electronic visitor log.

Currently, only Bankman-Fried’s lawyers and employees of his contracted law firm are exempt from the checks. Lawyers have asked for the measures to extend to visitors “pre-approved” by the court.

The list — which was viewed by prosecutors with no objections — includes “close friends and colleagues of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents and household help that regularly visit the house,” according to the letter.

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

The first page of the letter by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers sent to Judge Kaplan. Source: CourtListener

As part of bail conditions laid out by Judge Kaplan, Bankman-Fried is only allowed the use of a laptop restricted to accessing court-approved sites, including selected news sites and YouTube.

He also has a phone which is cut off from internet access and is only able to make and receive calls and texts.

solid drunk dial pic.twitter.com/FzbgePd0KD

— Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) July 4, 2023

The lawyers said those on the list “are aware of and will abide by” Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions including a prohibition on sharing electronic devices with him.

Related: CFTC case against Digitex futures exchange and CEO results in $16M court order

Bankman-Fried has been living at his parent's house in Palo Alto, California since being granted bail in December 2022 — the same house was put up as collateral for is $250 million bail bond.

A trial for the 13 charges leveled against Bankman-Fried was scheduled to begin on Oct. 2 but five charges were split into a second trial slated to start on March 11, 2024.

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