FTX CEO agrees to fly back to US to face charges
Dec 22, 2022
New York (US), December 22 : FTX Chief Executive Officer Sam Bankman-Fried is set to fly back to the United States to face fraud charges in federal court after he told a judge in the Bahamas on Wednesday that he agreed to be extradited, according to the New York Times.
According to the article, Bankman-Fried will soon arrive in New York to face charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and a campaign finance violation. NYT reported that his departure from the Bahamas was delayed by several hours as officials completed the final paperwork, but the local government eventually announced that Bankman-Fried would leave the country on Wednesday night.
Once in New York, the newspaper reported in an article that he would be arraigned in Federal District Court in Manhattan, though the exact timing of the proceeding remains unclear. The charges stemmed from the collapse of Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange, FTX, which was based in the Bahamas until its bankruptcy last month, NYT reported.
According to the article, thirty-year-old Bankman-Fried has been in custody in the Bahamas since he was arrested at his luxury apartment complex on December 12.
NYT said he confirmed that he had signed documents authorising the extradition. His lawyer, Jerone Roberts, said Bankman-Fried was "anxious to leave" the Bahamas and hoped to travel as early as Wednesday, it added.
In court, Bankman-Fried told the magistrate judge, Shaka Serville, that he was "doing well." According to NYT, asked whether he was in good health, Bankman-Fried replied, "Yes."
NYT said Bankman-Fried wore a white shirt and a blue suit, with a plastic bag on his lap; he arrived after a breakfast of toast and jam at Fox Hill, the notorious Bahamian jail where he has been held for the last week, according to the facility's head administrator, Doan Cleare.
The New York Times said even before the extradition, Bankman-Fried's legal team in the US had been negotiating a possible bail package with federal prosecutors. Under the terms that have been discussed, Bankman-Fried could be released on bail with highly restrictive conditions, including home detention and electronic monitoring. The newspaper also reported that any bail arrangement must be approved by a federal judge.
Bankman-Fried resigned as FTX's chief executive when the company filed for bankruptcy in November. He was indicted less than a month later by a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
