US Prosecutors Try To Prohibit SBF From Signal After Alleged Witness Contact

The General Counsel of FTX US, Ryne Miller, is accused of being involved in a “constructive Relationship” with the former FTX CEO.

Federal prosecutors have requested that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) bail conditions are modified to prevent further alleged attempts at impacting witnesses’ declarations.

Court documents filed on Jan. 27 revealed that The Department of Equity (DOJ) had asked United States District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan to restrict Bankman-Fried from communicating with “current or former employees” of FTX or Alameda.

The prosecutors have requested this after they alleged that Bankman-Fried had reached out to Ryne Miller, the current General Counsel of FTX US, over Sign and email on Jan. 15, attempting to “influence” Miller’s declaration. The record quoted:

“I’d really like to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive working relationship, use each other as assets as circumstances permit, or perhaps vet things with each other.

The prosecutors also requested that Bankman-Fried is restricted from utilizing encrypted communication applications.

“The defendant will not use any encrypted or ephemeral call or informing application, including yet not limited to Signal.”The record further alleged that Bankman-Fried’s use of Signal is consistent with “a history” of involving the application for obstructive purposes.

It was previously reported that Bankman-Fried denied any involvement in a group chat on Signal hours before his arrest.

The group chat reportedly included members of Bankman-Fried’s inner Circle, including FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang, FTX engineer Nishad Singh and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, In the lead-up to the collapse, the group sent secret information about FTX and Alameda.

This comes after lawyers representing FTX in the bankruptcy procedures had reportedly argued on Jan. 26 that Bankman-Fried’s immediate family should confront questioning regarding any financial advantages they might have received from the exchange.