Vilar Gets Reduced Bail, With Help From His Friends

Unable to make the $10 million bail set by a Manhattan judge, disgraced philanthropist Alberto Vilar and his attorneys begged the court to consider accepting a lesser sum raised by the defendant’s friends and family. After some wrangling, Vilar was released on the promise of a $4 million bond. Vilar will also be required to turn over his extensive art collection to the court, and some friends are putting their own multi-million-dollar homes up as collateral. The judge in the case agreed to reduce bail once it became clear that prosecutors would need a significant amount of time to sort through all the documents in the case.