Sam Bankman-Fried, the indicted founder and former CEO of the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has been sent to jail after prosecutors revoked his bail and accused the 31-year-old of trying to influence witnesses.
United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan told a federal court hearing in Manhattan on Friday that "there is probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice" since he was arrested late last year.
The hearing took place ahead of the trial of Bankman-Fried, widely known as SBF, scheduled for October.
Kaplan’s decision comes after SBF argued last week that he had never sought to intimidate witnesses expected to testify against the 31-year-old at the October trial.
In a letter to Kaplan, the ex-FTX chief executive claimed that his intentions were mischaracterized by prosecutors when he previously gave a New York Times reporter the diary of his former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, who is set to testify against him. Ellison was chief executive of SBF’s hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried’s letter also noted that SBF was merely exercising his right to "fair comment on an article already in progress."
Earlier, Ellison and three former members of Bankman's inner circle, pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with the US Justice Department.
SBF faces eight criminal charges for offenses including wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance law violations. If convicted, SBF, who pleaded not guilty in January, faces a sentence of up to 115 years behind bars.