How is this bond tax working in US? If you end up no guilty you get refound or you just get extorted that money to not being beaten up and raped in prison until hearing?
Samourai Wallet Co-Founder Keonne Rodriguez Pleads Not Guilty, Released on $1M Bond
Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges tied to creating and marketing the privacy-focused bitcoin wallet in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/samourai-wallet-co-founder-keonne-rodriguez-pleads-not-guilty/
Discussion
I also want to know this
If you show up at court when ordered, then you get the money back no matter the decision. If you miss the court hearing, you lose the money.
If you use bonds service then you lose your down payment every time (e.g. 10% of total bond).
At least that's my understanding...
Ok very interesting, I always thought that the money was lost somehow, so I was like: only rich can afford that. Thus if you pay 10% of 1M$ to borrow the bond, it's quite a lot of money.
I bet the guy is reorganizing his wallets like hell these next days.
I'm pretty sure it's a broken system. The bonds are always set unrealistically high because judges know bond companies exist, and imo they increase the chance of the defendant running away because an additional liability in the form of debt makes disappearing more attractive. So, imo, it's just another example of American corruption.
its basically a deposit to make sure you show up in court. usually folks use a bail bonds company that you pay in order to borrow their $1m and then if you skip your court date they can hunt you down!
Yes, it seems the defendant needs to pay premium (10-15%) which he loses even if found not guilty, and pledge a collateral (house in this case). See https://law.stackexchange.com/a/30216/44582 .
But note that even if you are finally acquitted, you have to pay your lawyer and nobody refunds you this cost. And you can defend yourself without a lawyer, but if facing 20 years in prison, you probably don't want to risk that you make some formal mistake and judge tells you "no, should have asked for that evidence earlier" or something similar.