Prosecutors Voice Concern Over Bankman-Fried's Use of VPN
US prosecutors have expressed concern over Sam Bankman-Fried's use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access the internet while under house arrest.
In a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday, the U.S. Attorney's office in New York said they have noticed that the former FTX boss used a VPN on January 29 and February 12. Judge Kaplan is overseeing the government's case accusing Bankman-Fried of multiple felonies tied to FTX, including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
A VPN hides a user’s IP address, letting people stay private while using the internet. The government lawyers said this could be problematic in SBF's case because it conceals the websites he visits, disguises his whereabouts, allows access to web content otherwise inaccessible in the U.S., and allows for undetectable data transfers and access to the dark web.
"In other words, the internet service provider or third parties (like the government) cannot see which websites a user is visiting or what data is being sent and received online," prosecutors wrote.
SBF's lawyers have reportedly said the disgraced crypto boss did not use VPN for any bad purpose. "[O]ur client used the VPN to access an NFL Game Pass international subscription that he had previously purchased when he resided in the Bahamas, so that he could watch NFL playoff games," they wrote in a separate letter to Judge Kaplan.
Last week, Judge Kaplan banned SBF from using messaging apps that auto-delete texts. The move came after prosecutors claimed that the disgraced crypto boss tried to influence some potential witnesses of his trial via encrypted messaging software Signal.
At the time, the government lawyers said SBF has been in contact with “current and former FTX
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