In a recent court filing, the legal team of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), founder and CEO of FTX, has requested a third extension on the enforcement of his revised bail conditions.
The difficulty lies in installing monitoring software on his parents’ cell phones, which is required to take a photo of the user every five minutes.
Challenges in implementing monitoring software for SBF
Lawyers Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell stated in an April 19 filing in the Southern District of New York that they have successfully implemented all the bail conditions except for the monitoring of Bankman-Fried’s parents’ cell phones.
They noted, “We learned recently that the monitoring software installed on the new cellphones we purchased for Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents cannot, in fact, automatically photograph the device’s user every five minutes as required by the Order.”
Cohen and Everdell expressed optimism about finding a solution to monitor the cell phones, but they need extra time to “conduct further tests on the monitoring software to confirm its capabilities.”
Court’s response to extension requests
The defense team had previously requested one-week extensions on April 4, 2023, and April 11, 2023, both of which were granted by the court.
The government consented to the latest request for an extension until Friday, April 21, 2023, to implement the specific bail conditions related to SBF’s parents’ cell phones.
In the meantime, the legal team has requested that SBF’s parents be permitted to use their existing cell phones while they continue to explore alternative solutions to secure the devices in a manner consistent with the requirements of the court order.
As the legal team works diligently to find a viable solution for monitoring the cell phones, the granting of this third extension highlights the challenges of implementing technology-based bail conditions.
The case of Sam Bankman-Fried serves as a reminder that even in an increasingly digital world, legal and technological complexities can still create roadblocks in achieving compliance with court orders.
