by Millions of people across the United States tuned in to the Super Bowl on Sunday, some to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles and others to watch Rihanna’s halftime performance. However, one spectator is in hot water for seeing the big game: FTX founder and alleged fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
A federal judge ordered Bankman-Fried to appear in court on Thursday, CNN reported, after it was revealed that the former crypto billionaire used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) while serving his pre-trial house arrest at his parents’ home. parents in Palo Alto, California.
As Bankman-Fried waited to face his fraud and conspiracy charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, the cryptocurrency tycoon used a VPN, government prosecutors said in a filing on Monday, expressing their concerns.
“The VPN hides a user’s IP address by allowing the private network to redirect it through a remote server run by the VPN host,” they wrote in court filings. “This means that when a user engages in online activities with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of the data. In other words, the internet service provider or third parties (like the government) cannot see which websites a user is visiting or what data is being sent and received online.”
“A VPN is a more secure and secret method of accessing the dark web,” they added.
On Tuesday, Bankman-Fried’s legal team responded that their client had used the VPN on January 29 and February 12 to watch the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl.
“This use of a VPN does not address any of the concerns raised by the government in its letter,” the lawyers wrote in a response document. “However, to resolve the matter and as the Government notes, the defense is prepared to adopt a reasonable bail condition that allays any concerns by the Government or the Court about the use of a VPN. Our customer will not be using a VPN in the interim.”
Both parties said they wanted to take the time to discuss Mr. Bankman-Fried regarding the use of a VPN.
Earlier, Judge Lewis Kaplan expressed concern over Mr. Bankman-Fried to a former colleague, exchanges that raised questions about whether the crypto executive was trying to get the colleague to “sing the same hymnal.”
In December, the FTX founder was charged with a series of financial crimes and campaign donation violations, including wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and campaign finance regulations.
The crypto-magante is accused of siphoning funds from FTX clients to its private hedge fund Alameda Research.
