Sam Bankman-Fried’s appearance bond of $250 million is the largest in American history. But, there was no cash exchanged for his release for home detention, only promises by his Stanford law professor parents and their two Stanford faculty colleagues he won’t flee the country. The bail terms, by any measure, were exceptionally lenient. Moreover, the bond doesn’t fit one of American history’s most enormous financial crimes. A first-year law student would have fashioned a more appropriate and restrictive bond than SDNY Judge Lewis Kaplan and prosecuting U.S. District Attorney Damian Williams.
SBF has pushed the boundaries of his release by contacting a former employee via Signal encrypted messaging, which constitutes witness tampering. He also used a VPN service that provided his online privacy and anonymity through a private network. He also has unlimited access to his unindicted parents’ computers and phones. Psychopaths are naturally irresponsible and not bound by rules or the law.
