In what may well be the highest-ever bond amount before a trial, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Friend is set to be released after paying $250 million, dwarfing that of famed financial fraudster Bernie Madoff, who was granted a $10 million bail agreement in 2008.
Bankman-Fried has been ordered to be confined to his parents’ Palo Alto, CA, home, a federal judge said at the disgraced founder’s first New York federal court appearance Thursday.
Bankman-Fried faces charges including wire fraud, money laundering and violating campaign finance laws.
Federal prosecutors did not attempt to withhold bail, but they did grant what is believed to be the “highest-ever pretrial bond,” assistant US attorney Nick Roos said during Thursday’s hearing. That statistic does not appear to account for inflation metrics when it comes to previous sky-high bail designations for other purported financial fraudsters.
Bankman-Fried’s acquiescence to US extradition from the Bahamas — where he lived and was arrested — helped his case for being offered bail to begin with, Roos said.
“This was a fraud of epic proportions,” Roos said. “If that was the only test, detention would likely be appropriate. But he voluntarily consented to extradition. That should be given weight.”
The bond will be signed by Bankman-Fried, his parents and one non-family member, according to court proceedings. He is expected to report to pretrial services in California by 10 am Friday.
“The defendant has achieved sufficient notoriety it would be impossible for him to continue financial transactions — this notoriety also goes to risk of flight,” Federal Judge Gabriel Gorenstein said during the hearing. “He would be recognized. So I am going to permit release.”
It is currently unclear whether Bankman-Fried is working with a bail bond agency or what the collateral for the loan was, if any.
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Source: https://blockworks.co/news/sbf-released-on-bond