Two professors from Stanford University turned out to be previously unknown guarantors of former FTX head Sam Bankman-Freed on a $250 million bail, The Block reports.
According to court documents, former law school dean Larry Kramer signed a $500,000 bond and senior fellow Andreas Pepke signed $200,000.
The main amount of the deposit was provided by the parents of the founder of the exchange – Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, who also taught at the educational institution.
Initially, the names of two anonymous guarantors were removed from the documents. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued this with issues of confidentiality and security of guarantors.
A media group petitioned for the disclosure of their names in January. The law firm Davis Wright Tremaine filed a corresponding statement on behalf of the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Financial Times, CNBC, Reuters, Insider, publishers of the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
Among the arguments were the severity of the charges against Bankman-Fried and public outcry.
At the end of the month, Judge Lewis Kaplan granted the motion. Since the defendant’s lawyers had the right to challenge the decision, it entered into force on 14 February.
On December 12, Bahamas authorities arrested the founder and ex-CEO of FTX at the request of the US government. As part of the investigation into the collapse of the stock exchange, US prosecutors charged him with eight criminal offenses. Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty.
On December 23, the court released him on $250 million bail. Prosecutors had previously requested a change in the conditions of Bankman-Freed’s house arrest. Law enforcement officers suspected him of using the Signal messenger to send encrypted messages to a witness. Next, he was caught using a VPN.
Larry Kramer, in a commentary to The Block, noted that he decided to act as a guarantor “for personal reasons.”
Kramer added that he had no “interests in the case under consideration” and was not ready to comment on it or express any position.
In February, the court deferred two civil lawsuits by regulators against the Bankman-Fried founder until the criminal case against him was completed.
Source: CryptoNewsHerald.com
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