Judge allows release of identities of guarantors behind Sam Bankman-Fried's bail

A federal judge has allowed identities of guarantors who signed on sureties for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond to be made public following a request from several news outlets.

Court documents released on Feb. 15 showed that the two previously unidentified individuals were Andreas Paepcke, a senior research scientist at Stanford University and Larry Kramer, a former dean of Stanford Law School. The two signed on as sureties for Bankman-Fried’s bail on Jan. 25 for $200,000 and $500,000, respectively.

Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried — SBF’s father and mother — were the other two parties who signed off on their son’s $250-million bond in December 2022 following his arraignment. The two were law professors at Stanford prior to their son’s arrest, with Bankman seemingly becoming more of a target in FTX’s bankruptcy case — company debtors issued subpoenas to him, his son, and other ‘insiders’ on Feb. 14.

According to a Feb. 15 report from Business Insider, Kramer said he had been friends with Bankman and Fried since the 1990s, and his $500,000 contribution was based on that relationship. It’s unclear at the time of publication what connection Paepcke may have to Bankman-Fried or his parents.

Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions restricted him to home arrest at his parent’s California house, but he has been permitted to leave for court appearances and other allowances. Judge Lewis Kaplan has amended SBF’s bail conditions to include restrictions on accessing certain messaging apps, using virtual private networks, and contacting current and former FTX and Alameda Research employees.

Eight major news outlets petitioned Judge Kaplan in a Jan. 12 letter, requesting the court disclose the names of the two individuals “that provided Mr. Bankman-Fried with financial backing”. The judge initially granted the petition, but stayed the release of the guarantors’ identities until Feb. 7 to allow for SBF’s legal team to appeal.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued against the release of Paepcke’s and Kramer’s identities — at that time, unnamed — in a Jan. 3 letter, saying that Bankman and Fried had been the target of “intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats”. The legal team announced their intent to appeal Kaplan’s decision, which delayed the release of the information until Feb. 14.

Related: FTX fallout: SBF trial could set precedent for the crypto industry

SBF’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin in October, while FTX’s bankruptcy case is ongoing. FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison have already pleaded guilty to certain charges and are reportedly cooperating with authorities.

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