A car with three people inside drove into a barricade outside the Stanford home owned by Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, an apparent attempt to gain access to the property where the founder of crypto exchange FTX is under house arrest, his lawyers said.
Stanford police spokesman Bill Larson confirmed the account on Friday to the Daily Post. Police were dispatched “to a verbal disturbance” on Jan. 5 around 4 p.m. he said.
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried made the disclosure in a letter dated Thursday asking a federal judge to keep the names private of two people who posted collateral to get Bankman-Fried out of jail.
Bankman-Fried faces charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits on his cryptocurrency trading platform, using some of the funds to make large campaign donations to U.S. politicians.
Bankman-Fried pleaded innocent last month and was released on $250 million bond, on the condition he await trial at his parents’ home on Cooksey Lane, which is being protected by security guards.
The lawyers were responding to a motion by several news organizations to unseal the names of two individuals besides Bankman-Fried’s parents who agreed to sign the $250 million recognizance bond.
The lawyers, Mark Cohen and Chris Everdell, in part argue that the court should not unseal the names because doing so could threaten the individuals’ safety.
As proof, they cited an incident where a black car drove into a metal barricade erected outside the Bankman-Fried residence. The lawyers said three men exited the car and told a security guard “something to the effect of: ‘You won’t be able to keep us out.’”
“Given the notoriety of this case and the extraordinary media attention it is receiving, it is reasonable to assume that the (two bond signers) will also face significant privacy and safety concerns if their identities are disclosed,” the lawyers wrote.
Eight media outlets say the names should be unsealed because of the gravity of Bankman-Fried’s alleged crimes and because there is legal precedent for disclosing the names.
“The public, however, has an interest in knowing who it is that provided Mr. Bankman-Fried with financial backing following this alleged massive fraud and political scandal, particularly given Mr. Bankman-Fried’s close relationships with leaders of the financial industry, investors, prominent Silicon Valley billionaires, and elected representatives,” the outlets wrote in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan on Jan. 12. — From staff and wire reports
Fake news! Nobody is threatening this guy. This is a hoax.
If the Pillsbury Dough Boy weren’t animation, it would be SBF