A judge decides co-signers for Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail should be disclosed

A federal court in the United States has allowed numerous news organizations’ applications to reveal the identity of the two anonymous co-signers of Sam Bankman-fried’s US $250 million bail bond after he was detained and charged with fraud and other offences. The bail bond was one of the biggest ever recorded, and two of the signers were his parents.

Monday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that the requested information, the names of bond sureties, is often considered public information.

Kaplan said in the filing, “The non-parental bail sureties have willfully joined a highly publicized criminal action by signing the Individual Bonds.” Individual Bonds should be included in the public record, in my opinion.

He added that Kaplan would defer his ruling until February 7 in case of an appeal. The attorneys for Bankman-Fried contended that revealing the identity of the individuals involved would endanger their safety. In October, Bankman-Fried will face trial on eight allegations, including money laundering, for which he has pleaded not guilty.

In response to an earlier motion filed by the founder’s attorneys to redact the two names, a number of news organizations, including The New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal, asked the court to reveal the identities of Bankman-Fried’s bail sponsors in the “public interest” earlier this month.

Last week, FTX lawyers sought the bankruptcy court for permission to issue subpoenas to former senior FTX executives and advisers, including members of Bankman-Fried’s family who may possess crucial information for the recovery of cash.

Also Read: Elon Musk Apparently Intends To Add Crypto Capabilities To A Payments Service