Federal prosecutors are seeking to prevent indicted FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried from using encrypted messaging software, arguing that such use may “constitute witness tampering,” according to a letter filed in Manhattan federal court on Friday.
Prosecutors claim that Bankman-Fried contacted the “current General Counsel of FTX US who may be a witness at trial,” identified in the filing as Ryne Miller, the current counsel for FTX US and a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
The outreach occurred via Signal, an encrypted messaging app, on January 15, shortly after bankruptcy officials at the crypto exchange announced the recovery of more than $5 billion in FTX assets.
“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,” Bankman-Fried allegedly wrote to Miller.
The filing also mentions that Bankman-Fried has been in contact with “other current and former FTX employees.”
Prosecutors argue that Bankman-Fried’s outreach to Miller could be an attempt to influence the witness’s testimony and that his effort to improve relations with Miller “may itself constitute witness tampering.”
To prevent “obstruction of justice,” the government is pushing to restrict Bankman-Fried’s access to Signal and other encrypted messaging platforms.
Prosecutors assert that Bankman-Fried used Slack and Signal to direct Alameda and FTX and instructed his employees to set communications to “autodelete after 30 days or less.”
The government also cited previously undisclosed testimony from former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, who claimed that Bankman-Fried suggested “many legal cases turn on documentation and it is more difficult to build a legal case if information is not written down or preserved.”
Ellison, who has pled guilty to multiple fraud charges, is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the case against Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight charges related to the collapse of his multibillion-dollar crypto empire, FTX. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in October after being released on bail.
