Array
Former FTX crypto exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, just extradited to the United States from a prison in the Bahamas, was freed on $250 million bail pending his trial on criminal fraud and money laundering charges.
Bail was posted by Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, who put up their house as collateral. Bankman and Fried are compliance attorneys and professors at Stanford University, and are well-connected within the Democratic Party.
According to an official at the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, where the charges were brought, the bail bond was posted in the form of a property bond, according to which the parents would forfeit their home to federal authorities if their son fails to show up in court. In addition, Bankman-Fried would owe the difference between the equity value of the forfeited house and $250 million.
When facing federal charges, defendants have two options to get out of jail before the trial. One option is to post a signature bond, which is a promissory note to pay the total amount of bail if the defendant skips trial. This is simply the defendant promising that he or she will show up in court.
According to Prison Professors, which provides expertise about the bail process, the signature bond is “now a widespread practice in federal court, replacing the need to pay bail bondsman ‘bailing’ someone out of jail.
