The downside about (allegedly) stealing billions of dollars of investors’ and customers’ money is that you’ll be recognized as a disgraced fraud facing life in prison. The good part is that you could have plenty of cash stashed away to have $250 million available to bail yourself out of jail.
Or maybe you used some of the stolen loot to pay off your parent’s mortgage when times were good?
As Sam Bankman-Fried waits to be tried on roughly eight felony fraud charges, he can stay with his parents. The dude is free; out on bail as of 2:19 Eastern today.
His next tour appearance is set for Jan. 3, where he will enter his plea and be arraigned. Is that enough time to set up another crypto exchange company or hedge fund? I wouldn’t hold it past him.
You are undoubtedly wondering how he raised funds to meet bail. Well, he was issued a recognizance bond, a written commitment from the accused to appear in court. Sort of like an “IOU” from someone who should be considered one of the least trustworthy people in the world. His parents used the equity in their home, along with signatures from two other people with “considerable” assets who promised there wouldn’t be any funny stuff.
Can SBF jump on a private jet and flee to Dubai? Maybe, but doubtful. He’s required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. He also has to submit to mental health counseling, and he has travel restrictions.
He can’t open new lines of credit more than $1,000 while he waits for trial.
It’s shocking. Stunning. He’s accused of spending tens of millions on political campaigns, and federal regulators allege he made more than $8 billion in customer funds disappear.
But don’t worry, he told the court; he won’t disappear.
We’ll see.
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