Disgraced former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly enlisted the services of a 75-pound dog who is trained to attack on command using a secret code word.
The family of the fallen FTX founder recently purchased Sandor, a German shepherd who is described by Forbes magazine as “welcoming, but trained to attack with the utterance of a secret word.”
Sandor is the last line of defense for Bankman-Fried, who is under house arrest at the $4 million Palo Alto, Calif. home of his parents, Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried.
Bankman-Fried, 30, has pleaded not guilty to several charges listed in a federal indictment, including money laundering and wire fraud, related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s family bought him a 75-pound German shepherd who is trained to attack on command using a “secret word.”Matthew McDermott
He has denied allegations that he swindled investors and customers of FTX by diverting $1.8 billion invested in the platform to his hedge fund. If convicted, he faces up to 115 years behind bars.
Bankman-Fried appeared briefly in Manhattan federal court last month after his extradition from the Bahamas, where his company was based.
As per the terms of his extradition, Bankman-Fried was freed on $250 million bond and ordered to surrender his passport. Two unidentified individuals put up a total of $700,000 to secure the bond.
In light of alleged death threats that have been made against Bankman-Fried, the 3,000-square-foot property has been turned into a de facto fortress — protected by armed security guards who are being paid by the family some $10,000 per week.
“They’re nervous,” one source told The Post. “There have been death threats. They’re not taking any chances.”
In a federal court filing last week, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers alleged that a car rammed into a metal barricade outside the home.
Bankman-Fried has been under house arrest in his parents’ $4 million Palo Alto, Calif. home since being freed on $250 million bond last month.Matthew McDermott
The attorneys claimed that three men hopped out of the car and told a security guard: “You won’t be able to keep us out.”
The trio, who haven’t been identified, got back into the car after making the threat and drove off.
The lawyers — Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell — did not say when this incident took place.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers cited the alleged incident during arguments in court over a motion brought by media companies to unseal the identities of the two people who helped put up Bankman-Fried’s bond.
In a letter to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, the lawyers said the individuals’ names should remain private due to the “significant privacy and safety concerns” they would face given the case’s notoriety.
They also said the prosecutors in the case have not requested the two sureties’ identities and have no strong feelings either way.
