A US federal judge has ruled in favor of several news organizations seeking to reveal the identities of two co-signers of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail bond.
Judge Lewis Kaplan stated that the information sought, names of bail sureties, is traditionally regarded as public information. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had argued against the disclosure on security grounds.
However, Judge Kaplan wrote that the non-parental bail sureties voluntarily entered into the highly publicized criminal proceeding by signing the bond and that the bond should be on the public record.
The judge will hold his order until February 7 in case of an appeal. Bankman-Fried has been charged with fraud, money-laundering, and other crimes and has pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled for October.
