Sam Bankman-Fried, the owner of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX. He is anticipated to appear in court in the Bahamas on Monday. Presumably consented to extradition to the US, where he is charged with fraud.
After being detained a week ago in the Bahamas, where he resides, FTX is headquartered. Bankman-Fried first declared he would contest extradition. But instead, he was detained at Fox Hill in the Caribbean after being denied bail.
Reuters on Saturday was the first to report that Bankman-Fried will return to coaching.
Before FTX crashed in early November following a rush of withdrawals, the 30-year-old crypto tycoon had ridden a spike in the value of Bitcoin and other digital assets to become a multi-billionaire. Moreover, he is an influential political donor in the United States. On November 11, the exchange filed for bankruptcy.
Federal prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried in Manhattan of stealing billions of dollars in FTX client deposits. He is alleged to have stolen to cover losses at his cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research. Fried of deceiving investors and lenders, planning to launder money, and breaking American political funding regulations.
Bankman-Fried recognized FTX’s risk management shortcomings but insisted he did not see himself as criminally liable.
Bankman-Fried would have to show up in front of a court in Manhattan within two days of being extradited to the US. But the hearing would probably be short. After that, he would require a plea, and the court would decide on bail.
Because there are significant financial stakes in the case and it is unclear where those monies are, prosecutors anticipate making the case that Bankman-Fried poses a flight risk and should be held in custody.
The CEO of FTX requested to stay at home while awaiting a hearing
Bankman-Fried would most likely be detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. But some federal prisoners are also being detained at facilities close to New York City, according to Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, a defense attorney from ZMO Law PLLC in New York who is not engaged in the case.
What caused Bankman-Fried to reconsider extradition was unclear at first. But, then, the U.S. State Department detailed the overcrowding, rat infestation, and inmates using buckets as toilets at the Fox Hill Correctional Facility, where Bankman-Fried was being kept, in a report from 2021. According to Bahamas officials, things have subsequently gotten better.
After Chief Magistrate JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt denied Bankman-request Fried to stay at home while awaiting a hearing on his extradition, he was sent to prison on Tuesday.
In the United States, judges rarely refuse bail to defendants charged with non-violent financial crimes. Even though they frequently demand high bond sums and onerous monitoring requirements.
Bail was given before trials to many well-known defendants, including Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, and Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay.
The fall of FTX was dubbed one of the “biggest financial scams in American history” by Damian Williams. Williams, the senior federal prosecutor in Manhattan, last week.
