Is Sam Bankman-Fried the Victim of a Double Standard?

Sam Bankman-Fried is too dangerous to be a free man in even the brief time left before the trial of the disgraced FTX founder begins in October, prosecutors assert.

Multiple sources have quoted prosecutor Danielle Sassoon telling a judge in a Manhattan court on Wednesday that, in the case of SBF, “no set of release conditions can assure the safety of the community.” This brought objections from SBF’s attorney Mark Cohen, who reportedly learned of the request just before court proceedings began. Moreover, the request contrasts jarringly with the lenient treatment of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, whose vicious witness intimidation was an open secret.

Sam Bankman-Fried Dubbed a Flight Risk

The FTX founder has been living in California amid the flurry of litigation following the exchange’s collapse in November 2022. But his life is no picnic. His legal team is constantly on the defensive.

Accusations have flown back and forth in recent days. Besides the charges related to the implosion of FTX, Alameda Research has sued asset manager K5 Global to reclaim $700 million that SBF had donated. K5 Global claims their dealings were a totally legitimate business relationship.

Meanwhile, SBF’s lawyers have protested the actions of his replacement as CEO of FTX, John Ray III. In a recent court filing, they accused Ray of having made “repeated ad hominem attacks on Mr. Bankman-Fried—which have very little to do with his role recovering assets for FTX creditors.”

SBF has come under fire for leaking private Google Docs entries of his former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, to the New York Times. He now faces charges of intimidation and evidence tampering, on top of everything else.

Ellison, who was head of Alameda Research, is widely expected to testify during the October trial.