A car rammed into a metal barricade outside the California home where Sam Bankman-Fried is serving his house arrest in a willful and malicious accident, his attorneys said Thursday.
Three men jumped out of the car and told a security guard tending the Palo Alto property, “They’re not going to be able to keep us out,” attorneys for Bankman-Fried said in a filing in Manhattan federal court.
The trio, who have not been identified, got back in the car after the threat and drove away.
Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of failed crypto exchange FTX, has been living in his parents’ $4 million home in Palo Alto since he was released on bail – after issuing a whopping $250 million bond.
The family hired a $10,000-a-week armed security detail to guard the home after the accused cryptocurrency scammer received death threats.
A guard puts a metal fence back in place on a street near Bankman-Fried’s family home in Palo Alto, California on December 23, 2022.AP
Sam Bankman-Fried’s family hired armed security guards to guard the home after the FTX founder received death threats. Getty Images
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, did not give an exact date of the alleged threat, but said it was recent.
The attorneys mentioned the incident in an attempt to stymie media inquiries to uncover the identities of two people who helped place Bankman-Fried’s bond next to his parents.
In a letter to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, the attorneys said the individuals’ names should remain confidential because they had “significant privacy and security concerns” given the high profile of the case.
Sam Bankman-Fried exits Manhattan Federal Court after his arraignment and bail hearing in New York City.Getty Images
They also said prosecutors in the case had not requested the identities of the two guarantors and had no strong feelings either way.
Earlier this month, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan.
The alleged crypto crook has been accused of defrauding FTX investors and customers by diverting $1.8 billion invested in the platform to his hedge fund and lavish personal purchases.
If convicted of all charges, he faces up to 115 years in prison.
With mail wires