U.S. judge sends FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried to jail over witness tampering

Published

2 years ago

August 11, 2023

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Sam Bankman-Fried will head to jail on Friday after a judge sided with a request by federal prosecutors to revoke the FTX founder’s bail over alleged witness tampering. Bankman-Fried was remanded to custody directly from a court hearing in New York.

Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Bankman-Fried’s request for delayed detention pending an appeal. Unless the appeal is successful, he is expected to remain in custody until his criminal trial, which is due to begin on Oct. 2.

“My conclusion is there is probable cause to believe the defendant tried to tamper with witnesses at least twice,” said Judge Kaplan during his ruling.

As the court marshals took Bankman-Fried into custody at the end of the hearing, the defendant took off his blazer, tie, emptied his pockets, and appeared to remove his shoes. Bankman-Fried’s parents were both in the gallery. His mother had her face buried in her hands for much of Judge Kaplan’s lengthy ruling.

The government requested that Bankman-Fried be remanded to a jail in Putnam, New York, where he’d have access to a laptop with internet access for defense preparation, as opposed to sending him to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, the facility closest to the courthouse that has limited internet access for prisoners.

Since his arrest in December, Bankman-Fried had been out on a $250 million bail package which requires him to remain at his parents’ Palo Alto, California house.

Bankman-Fried’s court appearance on Friday is the latest in a series of pre-trial hearings related to the ex-billionaire’s continued dealings with the press – exchanges which the Justice Department characterizes as a “pattern of witness tampering and evading his bail conditions.”

Judge Kaplan previously issued a direct and stern warning to Bankman-Fried in July over his conversations with the media.

Members of the press, including counsel for The New York Times and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, had filed letters objecting to Bankman-Fried’s detention, citing free speech concerns. Defense attorneys had similarly argued that Bankman-Fried was asserting his first amendment right and did not violate any terms of his bail conditions by speaking with journalists.

The defense had also been hoping that the discovery process would help Bankman-Fried’s case.

Lawyers representing the former FTX chief stipulated that with Bankman-Fried jailed, he would not be able to properly prepare for his trial due to the mountainous amounts of discovery documents only accessible via a computer with internet access.

In the motion requesting Bankman-Fried’s detention, the government said that, over the last several months, the defendant had sent over 100 emails to the media and had made over 1,000 phone calls to members of the press. The final straw, according to prosecutors, was Bankman-Fried leaking private diary entries of his ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, to the New York Times. Ellison pleaded guilty to federal charges in Dec. 2022.

Ellison, who is also the former chief executive of Bankman-Fried’s failed crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, has been cooperating with the government since December and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

During his 33-minute ruling, Judge Kaplan walked through his rationale as to why probable cause for witness tampering had been met by the prosecution, adding that Bankman-Fried’s contribution to the Ellison story was designed to “hurt” and “discredit” a witness.

“Faced with a series of conditions meant to limit the defendant’s use of the internet and the phone, the defendant pivoted to in-person machinations,” the prosecution said of Bankman-Fried, whose revised bail conditions include restricted internet access and a ban from smartphone use.

The government added that Bankman-Fried had over 100 phone calls with one of the authors of the Times story prior to publication – many of which lasted for approximately 20 minutes.

The prosecution described the effort by Bankman-Fried – who faces several wire and securities fraud charges related to the alleged multibillion-dollar FTX fraud – as an attempt to discredit Ellison, characterizing it as a “means of indirect witness intimidation through the press.”

It is an argument that proved sufficient to convince Judge Kaplan to send Bankman-Fried to jail ahead of his trial.

The prosecution has had to cull charges twice to comply with an extradition agreement inked with The Bahamas – where Bankman-Fried was previously held in custody. The government told the Judge in a letter that next week it plans to file a new superseding indictment.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Environment

Tesla is now buying ads on Elon Musk’s X to get people to vote for his $1 trillion compensation

Published

13 hours ago

September 24, 2025

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Tesla is now buying ads on Elon Musk's X to get people to vote for his trillion compensation

Tesla is now buying advertising on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) to get Tesla shareholders to vote for his CEO compensation package worth up to $1 trillion in stock options.

Tesla, under Elon Musk’s leadership, has famously been against advertising. The CEO is even on the record saying that he “hates advertising” and that “other companies spend money on advertising and manipulating public opinion, Tesla focuses on the product.”

However, that was before he acquired Twitter, now X, which relies heavily on advertising.

After that, he started to push Tesla to do some advertising, but the company quickly stopped or greatly reduced its advertising efforts.

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We reported that Tesla’s advertising effort picked back up last week, starting with a few Google ads to encourage Tesla shareholders to vote for Musk’s new unprecedented CEO compensation package worth up to $1 trillion.

The automaker is in a full-on marketing blitz to convince shareholders to vote for the package and to allow Tesla to issue more shares in exchange.

Now, Tesla is even buying social media ads to push shareholders to vote for Musk’s compensation package and they are even buying ads on Musk’s privately owned platform, X:

They are also buying ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit.

As we previously reported, Tesla’s board has claimed that voting for the compensation package will determine the future of Tesla.

Musk went even further and linked his compensation package to the future of the world.

Earlier today, the CEO claimed that his compensation plan is not about money, but about control over Tesla:

It’s not about “compensation”, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots. If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future.

The CEO previously threatened Tesla shareholders not to build AI products at Tesla, despite claiming they were critical to the company’s future, if he doesn’t get 25% control over the company.

Electrek’s Take

The CEO of a publicly traded company threatens shareholders to gain control over the company and uses company funds to purchase ads that benefit his privately held company, with the goal of persuading the shareholders of the publicly traded company to give him more money.

If that’s not late-stage capitalism, I don’t know what is.

Also, I know I won’t shock anyone here, but Elon is lying about this not being about money.

If he wants to increase his percentage of Tesla shares, he could do exactly what his friend Larry Ellison did with Oracle and do long-term buybacks. It would benefit everyone, but it’s not what he wants. He wants the shiny new stock options.

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Environment

NYC’s newest EV charger hangs 10 feet high on a lamppost

Published

13 hours ago

September 24, 2025

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NYC’s newest EV charger hangs 10 feet high on a lamppost

Voltpost just rolled out the Voltpost Air, its next-gen lamppost EV charger in New York City, and this one comes with a key twist: it’s mounted 10 feet above ground.

The Voltpost Air uses that elevated design with a retractable cable system to protect against weather damage and vandalism, setting it apart from Voltpost’s original curbside charger. It’s also built for faster installation, broader pole compatibility, and better reliability.

It can be installed on both wooden and metal lampposts and utility poles, curbside or in parking lots. Site hosts can deploy one or two chargers per pole, making it a flexible option for cities and property owners. Drivers can pay with the app or by tapping with a credit card. Voltpost Air supports Level 2 charging, up to 9.6 kW per charging port.

Luke Mairo, COO and cofounder of Voltpost, said that “the modular design and quick installation reduce costs and complexity, making it easier than ever to expand charging infrastructure.” Voltpost is already operating chargers in Oak Park, Illinois, and at the American Center for Mobility near Detroit. The company has projects underway in New York, California, Michigan, Illinois, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Former US Joint Office of Energy and Transportation executive director Gabe Klein, now a Voltpost board advisor, said, “The transition to renewable transportation requires bold, scalable solutions that can integrate seamlessly into existing urban infrastructure. Technologies like Voltpost’s lamppost chargers are vital because they unlock new opportunities to deploy EV charging.”

The Brooklyn installation is part of New York City Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCEDC) Pilots at Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT) program, which supports climate-tech companies in scaling new solutions. It’s expected to be available to the public by the end of the year. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) president and CEO Doreen M. Harris called the model “highly replicable” and said it could be adopted across New York State.

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Voltpost Air is now available for deployment at public and private sites.

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Environment

Kia’s electric van was spotted in the US again, but this time it looks a little different

Published

14 hours ago

September 24, 2025

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Kia's electric van was spotted in the US again, but this time it looks a little different

Is Kia’s electric van finally coming to the US? The Kia PV5 was caught testing with a unique design, hinting it’s destined for the US.

Is Kia’s electric van coming to the US?

Although Kia has yet to announce it publicly, all signs point to the PV5 launching in the US. In February, the electric van was first spotted charging at a station in Indiana.

A few photos and a video sent to Electrek confirmed it was indeed the Kia PV5. The sighting came somewhat as a surprise, as the only official statement from Kia said the PV5 would arrive in Europe and South Korea this year, followed by “launches in other markets” in 2026, but no mention was made of the US.

After another PV5 was spotted in Arizona, rumors that Kia’s electric van was coming to the US began to surface again.

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Kia still has yet to confirm or deny a US launch, but another sighting hints at the PV5’s imminent debut. The latest spotting, by KindelAuto, appears to be of the US-spec 2026 Kia PV5.

It looks about the same as the Kia PV5 Passenger, which is already available in parts of Europe and South Korea. However, although it’s not very clear, Kia’s electric van appears to have added side marker lights, a requirement in the US.

Following its launch in the UK earlier this year, the Kia PV5 Passenger is now being introduced to new European markets.

The Kia PV5 Passenger electric van (Source: Kia)

In the UK, it starts at £32,995 ($44,000) on the road. In Germany, the PV5 Passenger is priced from €38,290 ($45,000) or €249 per month.

Kia’s electric van is available in two variants: Passenger, for everyday driving, and Cargo, for business use. The PV5 Passenger is available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh and 71.2 kWh, providing WLTP ranges of 183 miles and 256 miles, respectively. Meanwhile, several more variants are on the way.

Kia PV5 tech day (Source: Kia)

During its PV5 Tech Day in July, we learned that Kia plans to launch seven PV5 body types, including a Light Camper, a premium “Prime” Passenger model, and an open bed version.

We’ll have to wait for the official word, but there’s still hope Kia’s electric van will make it to the US. We should find out soon. Can we get the EV5 too? That might be pushing it.

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