Barbara Fried

Ex-Stanford dean says SBF’s parents helped his family battle cancer

One of the previously undisclosed guarantors of Sam Bankman-Fried’s bond told Cointelegraph why he helped out the former FTX CEO.

A former dean of Stanford Law School who co-signed Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail said he did so because SBF’s parents have been “the truest of friends” and helped his family through a “harrowing battle with cancer.”

In an emailed statement to Cointelegraph on Feb. 16, Larry Kramer said he co-signed Bankman-Fried’s bail as a way to return the favor.

“Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried have been close friends of my wife and I since the mid-1990s,” said Kramer.

*Screenshot of Larry Kramer bio on Hewlett Foundation website. Source: Hewlett Foundation*

He said that over the past two years, Bankman and Fried provided food and moral support while “frequently stepping in at moment’s notice to help” during his family’s battle with cancer.

“In turn, we have sought to support them as they face their own crisis,” he added.

Kramer emphasized that he had not been influenced to act as guarantor by any payments made to him by any FTX-related entity, writing:

“My actions are in my personal capacity, and I have no business dealings or interest in this matter other than to help our loyal and steadfast friends.”

Previous statements by Bankman-Fried reportedly corroborate this claim, with the former FTX CEO said to have denied that either of the two previously undisclosed guarantors had received any payments from FTX or sister-firm Alameda Research.

The names of SBF’s bail guarantors have been released: Larry Kramer, former dean of Stanford Law School, signed for $500K & Andreas Paepcke, computer scientist, signed for $200K.

In our last conversation, Sam denied that either guarantor has received payments from FTX or Alameda… https://t.co/cJq2Txi5zY

— Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) February 15, 2023

Kramer refrained from commenting on the legal predicament faced by Bankman-Fried, noting that this “is what the trial will be for.”

The other guarantor is Andreas Paepcke, a senior research scientist at Stanford University. He did not respond to questions by the time of publication.

The crypto community has been searching the web looking for more details on Paepcke, but there appears to be little information connecting him to Bankman-Fried outside of their association at Stanford University, where Bankman and Fried used to be law professors.

Via his Stanford bio: “Dr. Andreas Paepcke is a Senior Research Scientist at Stanford University. His interests include user interfaces and systems for teaching and learning. He uses data analytics to create tools that benefit these online efforts.” pic.twitter.com/xWEDVeNOId

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) February 15, 2023

United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan had allowed the identities of the two former law professors to be made public on Feb. 15, after being petitioned by eight major media outlets in a Jan. 12 letter.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had sought to keep the two anonymous, arguing that the pair could be subject to intrusions, threats and harassment if their names were made public.

Kaplan disagreed, however, noting that the pair had voluntarily signed individual bonds in a “highly publicized criminal proceeding,” and had therefore opened themselves up to public scrutiny.

Major media want answers: Who guaranteed Bankman-Fried’s $250M bail?

The media’s lawyers argued the public’s right to know Bankman-Fried’s sureties outweighed their privacy and safety rights, but Bankman-Fried’s lawyers strongly disagreed.

Eight major media companies — including Bloomberg, the Financial Times and Reuters — have demanded public disclosure of the two individuals responsible for guaranteeing FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond.

In a Jan. 12 letter addressed to New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, attorneys from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP — acting on behalf of the media giants — argued that “the public’s right to know Bankman-Fried’s guarantors outweighed their privacy and safety rights.”

“The public […] has an interest in knowing who it is that provided Mr. Bankman-Fried with financial backing.”

“[Particularly] given Mr. Bankman-Fried’s close relationships with leaders of the financial industry, investors, prominent Silicon Valley billionaires, and elected representatives,” they argued.

The other media organizations looking to persuade the judge to unseal the identities of Bankman-Fried’s guarantors are the Associated Press, CNBC, Dow Jones, Insider and the Washington Post.

*Screenshot of the letter sent to Judge Kaplan. Source: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP*

The attorneys also argued that given Bankman-Fried’s close ties to “some of the most wealthy, powerful, and politically connected individuals” on the planet, such non-disclosure could possibly undermine “public confidence in our government institutions and political leaders.”

The media lawyers also argued that while a 2020 case involving Jeffrey Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell saw her bond guarantors sealed, Bankman-Fried’s alleged financial crimes are not nearly as serious as what Maxwell was accused of:

“While Mr. Bankman-Fried is accused of serious financial crimes, a public association with him does not carry nearly the same stigma as with the Jeffrey Epstein child sex trafficking scandal.”

The letter came in response to the court’s decision on Jan. 3 to approve Bankman-Fried’s request to redact the names and identifying information of his two non-parental bail sureties.

According to a Jan. 12 report from Reuters, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers previously argued that Bankman-Fried’s sureties should be kept under wraps as Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried — the parents and co-signers of Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond — have received ongoing physical threats since FTX’s catastrophic collapse in early November.

If the guarantor’s names were revealed, there would be a “serious cause for concern” for the safety and welfare of those two people, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued.

The names of Bankman-Fried’s guarantors aren’t the only names mainstream media have asked to be disclosed publicly.

Several media outlets also called on Delaware-based Judge John Dorsey overlooking FTX‘s bankruptcy case to disclose the names of up to nine million customers entangled in the court proceedings.

However, bankruptcy judge John Dorsey has ruled on Jan. 11 to keep creditor information private for the time being.

Update Jan. 13, 3:45 am UTC: Added additional quotes in from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP’s letter addressed to Judge Lewis Kaplan.