Why Sam Bankman-Fried Wants To Keep These People A Secret?

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced crypto mogul who is accused of misleading investors and stealing billions of dollars in customer deposits from his now-defunct FTX exchange, is likely to enter a plea to the criminal claims against him today. In addition, SBF has requested that the identity of two individuals who will assist him in posting bail be kept under wraps by the judge.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s New Request

On Tuesday, attorneys for Bankman-Fried filed a letter requesting redactions of the identities of the two people who are seeking to sign on as sureties to his bail package. They argued that there is no purpose for public publication of this information and that the names should not be made public.

According to reports, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers wrote that,

If the two remaining sureties are publicly identified, they will likely be subjected to probing media scrutiny, and potentially targeted for harassment, despite having no substantive connection to the case,

Furthermore, the lawyers claimed that the privacy of the sureties and their safety are “countervailing factors” that greatly exceed the presumption that the public should have access to the relatively limited material that is at stake.

Read More: Sam Bankman-Fried Used $546 Mn From Alameda Research To Buy Robinhood Shares

SBF’s Two New Guarantors

In addition to Bankman-Fried and his parents, the judge requested that the bond be signed by two other people of substantial means, neither of whom can be related to Bankman-Fried. SBF’s attorneys mentioned in the letter that the two individuals have not yet signed but they expect to do so by the January 5th deadline.

This has led to widespread speculation in the crypto community regarding the identity of the other two individuals. While some believe them to be close employees of SBF from his FTX exchange, others sarcastically link Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary for his public support for the crypto founder.

In December, a bail package for $250 million was approved for Bankman-Fried, making it one of the highest in the history of the United States. The equity in Bankman-parents’ Fried’s home in Palo Alto, California, was used to finance the personal recognizance bond that was allowed by the judge. Additionally, he was ordered to remain under house arrest at the Palo Alto residence where he lives with his parents; eminent Stanford University law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried.

Also Read: What is Physical NFT? and How to Sell Physical Items as NFT