In a legal document lodged on July 13, 2023, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive officer and founder of FTX, expressed his desire for his “close friends” to drop by his parents’ residence “without the need for a security guard to be present.” The plea from Bankman-Fried petitioned the court to maintain confidentiality regarding the list of “friends and colleagues,” a move that Inner City Press has contested.
Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Advocate for Security-Free Visits for a Secret Group of ‘Close Friends’
Christian Everdell, legal counsel for Sam Bankman-Fried, presented a letter to the court advocating that “close friends and colleagues” as well as “household help” be permitted to call on his client without undergoing a security screening.
This request arises from the bail stipulations determined on March 28, 2023, which mandate a security guard to vet every visitor to Bankman-Fried’s parents’ dwelling, further requiring them to sign into an electronic log book.
The appeal seeks an exemption for a select roster of friends and colleagues from these protocols, a list that remains under wraps at present. “We further request that the attached list of people be filed under seal,” reads the counsel’s letter.
The letter further asserts that this collective will “abide by Mr. Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions.” One such condition restricts guests from carrying items like smartphones, tablets, and any internet-connected apparatus during their visits to Bankman-Fried.
Though the correspondence affirms that the “government consents to this request,” Inner City Press, a news outlet focused on high-profile court cases, objects to the concealment of names provided to the court.
Inner City Press’s executive director, Matthew Lee, says the legal paperwork “should be unsealed.” Initially, the court had obscured the identities of Bankman-Fried’s bond surety signers, but later disclosed them to the public in response to objections against the redaction.
Bankman-Fried’s legal team opposes the release of the list of close friends that the FTX founder has invited to visit without security. “The individuals’ privacy and safety interests greatly outweigh any presumption of access to the list and justify protecting their identities from public disclosure,” Everdell concludes in the letter to U.S. judge Lewis Kaplan.
Do you agree with Bankman-Fried’s legal team’s quest for confidentiality in this case? Should close friends be permitted to visit without security checks, or does this undermine the purpose of the established bail conditions? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.