Likely needed 25M for actually posting bail. He also did a lot of nice things and has a lot of friends, not to mention family. No big stretch of the imagination here.
Bail doesn't work that way at this scale. His parents put up the deed to their house, and a couple of really rich friends showed that they have $250 million in assets and agreed to let the government seize them if SBF doesn't show up. No cash really changes hands.
This system just seems insane. Why allow people to temporarily buy their way out of jail? How is this not grossly unfair to the poor?
In my experience, pretty much everyone without a record, or has always shown up for court gets ROR’d (released on own recognizance) for non violent crimes. The people that get screwed are the ones that skip court dates and then get caught again. If someone gets caught shoplifting and the cops find a gram of heroin in their pocket, it is common to be ROR’d after 24 hours in the tank if there are no outstanding warrants for skipping court. If they skip court and get caught again, the bond will be like $5000. If they are poor, they will spend a week in county jail, dry out, get on Suboxone, get assigned a parol officer, and hopefully be on a better path. Bail is meant to encourage people to show up for court and is needed for people who have a history of not doing that. It is less of a rich/poor thing, but rather a history of skipping court vs not skipping.
It is grossly unfair to the poor and the not-so-poor. It's a two-tiered justice system where the politically connected have different rules applied to them than the rest of us.
Innocent until proven guilty, presumption of innocence and so on. The system is insane, but not for the reasons you seem to think. It is unfair to the poor.
Which bail bond company came up with the other $225M?
When I needed to post a large bail I couldn't afford I got a personal loan so I wouldn't have to forfeit the bond amount. Bail bond companies are mostly a tool for those without any assets.
SBF will be banned from opening up new lines of credit. Don't know if that only begins after the bail starts though.
His parents wont be. In my case the loan was from a personal acquaintence.
Right, that makes sense
Frustratingly, if you personally post bail, typically you have to post the full amount (this might depend on the state).
But bail bonds companies typically only post 10% of the amount.
No, the bond company posts the entire amount and keeps the 10% you paid them as their fee. This is why they employ bounty hunters to track you down if you try to skip.