Two academics from Stanford University have been identified as the previously unknown individuals who signed bonds for the release of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX crypto exchange.
Larry Kramer, the former dean of Stanford Law School, and Andreas Paepcke, a computer science research engineer at the university, were named in court filings released on Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried was arrested and charged with fraud and other crimes, and was released on bail in December on a US$250 million personal recognizance bond signed by himself and his parents.
Two separate bonds were signed by Kramer and Paepcke, with court documents showing that Kramer put up a US$500,000 unsecured bond, and Paepcke signed on to US$200,000.
Kramer revealed that he supported the bail as he is close friends with Bankman-Fried’s parents. He added that he acted in a personal capacity and has no business dealings or other interests in the matter, other than to support a family he regards as friends.
The identity disclosure came after Judge Lewis Kaplan last month granted several motions filed by news organizations to reveal the identities of the two non-parent sponsors of the bail.
The information sought by news organizations, names of bail sureties, is traditionally regarded as public information, according to Kaplan’s January ruling.
The disclosure of the two sureties’ identities sheds light on the inner workings of the bail system and the involvement of prominent individuals in high-profile cases.
