SafeMoon CEO granted bail after feds cite flight risk

U.S. federal prosecutors were able to delay the release of SafeMoon CEO Braden John Caroni, citing flight risks and a “potential danger to the public.”

On Nov. 9, New York District Judge Lashan DeArcy Hall stayed the Nov. 8 bail order after prosecutors challenged Utah Magistrate Judge Caroni's decision to set bail at $500,000.

Prosecutors challenged the decision by New York's Daphne Oberg, saying the release order was issued “without consideration of the defendant's significant financial resources and ability to flee” and said his release would pose a “continuing danger to the community.”

“If convicted, the defendant faces a statutory maximum of 45 years in prison,” prosecutors wrote.

“All these facts provide a powerful incentive for the defendant to use his considerable (and obscure) financial resources and foreign connections to avoid that outcome.”

Judge Oberg's Nov. 8 order allows Caroni to remain in his Miami apartment, bars him from using crypto exchanges or wallets, holds or trades crypto, and prohibits him from engaging in promotional activities.

But prosecutors said a Utah court ignored Caroni's assets when he set his bail at $500,000. Safe Moon's CEO did not provide “virtually any information about his finances” and said he could have access to “total assets in the millions of dollars.”

Caroni also had “substantial and ever-expanding” overseas connections, spending months outside the US in Europe and the UK with his British citizen and resident fiance, prosecutors allege.

Prosecutors also asked the court to fly Caroni to New York and order Judge Hall to deal with him at a later date.

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Caroni was arrested Oct. 31 at Salt Lake City International Airport and charged with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud and money laundering along with Safe Moon creator Kyle Nagy and chief technology officer Thomas Smith.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also charged the three defendants with various charges of fraud and unregistered sales of securities and misappropriating funds to inflate the value of SafeMoon (SFM) tokens.

SafeMoon Technology CEO Thomas Smith was released on $500,000 bond on Nov. 3 and is pursuing a plea deal, while the Justice Department said Nagy remains in custody.

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