A US federal judge has questioned Sam Bankman-Fried’s “extraordinary” bail conditions following prosecutors’ allegations of potential witness tampering, while raising the prospect that the FTX founder could be forced to await his criminal trial in jail rather than his parents’ home.

Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the case against Bankman-Fried, challenged whether prosecutors’ proposal to stop the defendant from accessing the internet on certain devices was sufficiently stringent, after the former billionaire used an encrypted messaging app to contact FTX US’s general counsel, and used a VPN to watch the Super Bowl.

“We are dealing with somebody?.?.?.?[who has done things that could amount to] a federal felony on release, namely witness tampering or attempted witness tampering,” Kaplan said at an hour-long hearing in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, at which Bankman-Fried was present.