FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried while on bail should be allowed a cellphone with no Internet capability and a basic laptop with limited functions, but forbidden from using other electronic communication devices, the US Department of Justice said.
The proposal to limit the his communications was filed late on Friday in Manhattan Federal Court in New York, on behalf of the government and Bankman-Fried’s defense team.
It requires approval by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversees the case.
Photo: AP
Kaplan had signaled at a Feb. 16 hearing that he might jail Bankman-Fried, 30, for testing the limits of his US$250 million bail package by communicating in ways that could not be monitored.
The judge said he did not want to set Bankman-Fried “loose in this garden of electronic devices,” following accusations that he tried to contact possible government witnesses, and used a virtual private network to watch football.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty after prosecutors said he stole billions of US dollars of FTX customer funds to plug losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund.
He faces 12 criminal charges under an indictment made public on Feb. 23.
The proposed non-smartphone for Bankman-Fried would be limited to voice calls and SMS text messages.
Laptop Internet use would be restricted to specified virtual private networks, 23 Web sites for personal use covering news, sports and food delivery, and other Web sites.
Bankman-Fried is living under house arrest with his parents in Palo Alto, California.
His parents agreed to submit sworn affidavits that they would not bring other electronic devices into their home or let their son use theirs.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
MARKET LEADERSHIP: Investors are flocking to Nvidia, drawn by the company’s long-term fundamntals, dominant position in the AI sector, and pricing and margin power Two years after Nvidia Corp made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a US$1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach US$4 trillion. After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were set to slow, Nvidia shares have rallied back to a record. The company’s biggest customers remain full steam ahead on spending, much of which is flowing to its computing systems. Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc are
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
The US overtaking China as Taiwan’s top export destination could boost industrial development and wage growth, given the US is a high-income economy, an economist said yesterday. However, Taiwan still needs to diversify its export markets due to the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s administration, said Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮), an economics professor at National Central University. Taiwan’s exports soared to a record US$51.74 billion last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and continued orders, with information and communication technology (ICT) and audio/video products leading all sectors. The US reclaimed its position as Taiwan’s top export market, accounting for
RSS