© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, leaves following a hearing at Manhattan federal court in New York City, U.S. January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sam Bankman-Fried has resolved a dispute with U.S. prosecutors over the cryptocurrency exchange founder’s bail conditions, his lawyer said on Monday.
The judge overseeing Bankman-Fried’s criminal fraud case in federal court in Manhattan had last week temporarily barred the 30-year-old former billionaire from contacting employees of FTX or his Alameda Research hedge fund. He was also barred from using encrypted messaging tools including Signal.
That came after prosecutors raised concern that Bankman-Fried might tamper with witnesses.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer Mark Cohen said the defense and prosecutors proposed letting Bankman-Fried use WhatsApp if he installed monitoring technology on his phone and preserved his messages.
He would also be permitted to use other digital communication tools including Zoom, iMessage and Facebook (NASDAQ:) messenger. Bankman-Fried would remain barred from using Signal.