FTX founder Bankman-Fried objects to tighter bail, says prosecutors 'sandbagged' him

FILE PHOTO: Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, leaves on the day of a hearing at Manhattan federal court in New York City, U.S. January 3, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried on Saturday urged a U.S. judge not to ban the indicted FTX cryptocurrency executive from communicating with former colleagues as part of his bail, saying prosecutors "sandbagged" the process to put their client in the "worst possible light."

The lawyers were responding to a Friday night request by federal prosecutors that Bankman-Fried not be allowed to talk with most employees of FTX or his Alameda Research hedge fund without lawyers present, or use the encrypted messaging apps Signal or Slack and potentially delete messages automatically.