BBC
Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested on fraud charges last year after the collapse of his cryptocurrency firm, must await trial behind bars, a US judge has ordered.
The 31-year-old was handcuffed in court and led away, while his mother watched in tears after the decision.
Judge Lewis Kaplan had agreed with prosecutors who had accused Mr Bankman-Fried of trying to influence witnesses expected to testify against him.
He had denied the claims.
Speaking in court on Friday, Judge Kaplan said: “There is probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice.”
The hearing on whether to revoke Mr Bankman-Fried’s bail came ahead of trial, which is scheduled for October.
lThe 31-year-old was arrested in December after being accused of misusing money from investors and customers of his bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to pay for property, political donations and plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
The former billionaire denied the claims and was released to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California on a $250m (£197m) bond.
He was forced to hand over his belongings from his pockets and remove his shoelaces, jacket and tie before the US Marshals Service took him away on Friday, according to Reuters.
His father was also in court and placed his hand over his heart as his son was led away in handcuffs
The court had already moved to tighten restrictions faced by Mr Bankman-Fried earlier this year, citing his efforts to contact people involved in the case and his use of a virtual private network.
The latest request from prosecutors was sparked by a July article in the New York Times, which quoted confessional writings by Caroline Ellison, Mr Bankman-Fried’s sometime girlfriend and the former chief executive of Alameda…
