- Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried proposed he install monitoring software on his phone in a bail hearing Thursday.
- A judge flagged concerns that the FTX founder may evade bail restrictions and tamper with witness testimonies.
Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers just suggested that he install a monitoring software app on his phone as concerns over the FTX founder's communications rise in court.
The idea was proposed in a hearing on Thursday as US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan told lawyers to submit a new proposal that would modify the disgraced crypto mogul's bail conditions, Coindesk first reported. The software would record and archive all of the former exec's communications, preventing Bankman-Fried from obstructing the government's criminal investigation.
Issues over Bankman-Fried's bail conditions were made public after prosecutors raised concerns and asked the judge to prohibit the former FTX CEO from reaching out to former employees last week. This includes using encrypted messaging apps like Signal.
Bankman-Fried is allowed to use Zoom, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger to communicate, but all of his correspondence will be archived. Still, Kaplan said he was concerned about the defendant's likelihood of evading the current bail restrictions.
"We're being shortsighted to focus on apps," Kaplan said. "Don't you think this defendant is bright enough to encrypt something without a computer?"
The judge added: "I mean, I think I know what 'encrypted' means...I've read all the spy novels, too."
The hearing comes after Bankman-Fried allegedly sent a message to FTX US's general counsel, Ryne Miller, which Kaplan said posed a "material threat of inappropriate contact with prospective witnesses."
"I know it's been a while since we've talked. And I know things have ended up on the wrong foot," Bankman-Fried wrote in a text to his former employee, who is likely to be a witness in the case as well.
He continued: "I would really love to reconnect and see if there's a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other. I'd love to get on a phone call sometime soon and chat."