FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Jailed After $250 Million Bail Revoked

Sam Bankman-Freed was taken into custody on Friday after a US judge found it likely he tried to obstruct key witnesses at least twice . .

The founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been sent to jail after his $250m (£197m) bail was revoked following alleged witness interference.

Sam Bankman-Fried was taken into custody on Friday after a US judge deemed it likely he tried to obstruct key witnesses at least twice.

This means Mr Bankman-Fried, 31, will now have to wait until October trial for fraud from jail.

Mr. Bankman-Fried intends to appeal the decision, his lawyers said in a New York court.

The disgraced FTX founder was accused of stealing money from client deposits to conduct risky trading. operations at fellow cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research, which also suffered huge losses.

FTX, once the world's second largest digital coin exchange valued at $32 billion, filed for bankruptcy last November with a multi-billion dollar hole in its accounts as customers rushed to withdraw funds.< /p>

Over a million creditors were left without money after the collapse of FTX, including about 80,000 in the UK.

The founder of FTX attributed the huge losses to incompetence and denies wrongdoing. He pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges.

The decision comes after prosecutors accused Mr. Bankman-Fried of recently providing the New York Times with excerpts from a personal diary kept by an ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison.

Ms Allison, former chief executive of Alameda Research, is expected to testify as a key witness in a criminal trial in October after pleading guilty to criminal charges last year.

Prosecutors charged Bankman-Freed in leaking diary entries in hopes of discrediting the witness.

They also argued that bail should be canceled after Mr. Bankman-Freed contacted FTX General Counsel via an exchange app Signal private messages earlier this year.

Mr. Bankman-Fried lived with his parents under house arrest. since last December he was extradited from the Bahamas to face fraud charges in the United States.

He was released shortly afterward on $250 million bail, which was posted to his parents' home in California.

Due to the restrictive conditions of the pledge, the cryptocurrency mogul was under electronic surveillance and was denied access to the assets of FTX and Alameda