A car crashed into a metal barricade outside the California home where Sam Bankman-Fried is serving house arrest in an intentional and malicious accident, his lawyers said Thursday.
Three men got out of the car and told a security guard guarding the Palo Alto property, “You can’t keep us out,” Bankman-Fried’s attorneys said in a federal court filing in Manhattan.
The trio, who have not been identified, got back into their car after making threats and drove off.
Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been living in his parent’s $4 million Palo Alto home since he was released on bail after posting a whopping $250 million bail.
The family has hired an armed security team for $10,000 a week to protect the home after the accused cryptocurrency fraudster received death threats.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, Mark Cohen, and Christian Everdell, did not give a specific date for the alleged threat but said it happened recently.
Lawyers have raised the incident in an effort to block media requests to unmask the identities of two people who helped arrange bail for Bankman-Fried, along with his parents.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, the attorneys said the individuals’ names should remain private because of “significant privacy and security concerns” they would face given the high profile of the case.
They also said that prosecutors in the case have not asked about the identity of the two enforcers and have no strong feelings in any way.
Earlier this month, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, and campaign finance violations in federal court in Manhattan.
The alleged cryptocurrency scammer has been accused of defrauding investors and clients of FTX by diverting $1.8 billion invested in the platform into his hedge fund and into lavish personal purchases.
He could face up to 115 years behind bars if convicted on all counts.
