Bankman-Fried makes new bail application after losing first request: source
2022.12.15 17:18
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded and led FTX until a liquidity crunch forced the cryptocurrency exchange to declare bankruptcy, is escorted out of the Magistrate Court building after his arrest in Nassau, Bahamas December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Dant
(Reuters) -Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has made a bail application before The Bahamas Supreme Court, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, after a magistrate judge on Tuesday rejected the former crypto mogul’s request for bail.
Bankman-Fried was remanded to a Bahamas detention center after Chief Magistrate JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt rejected his request to remain at home while he awaits for a hearing on his extradition to the United States, where he has been charged with financial crimes.
The source, who asked not to be identified, said the application was made on Thursday.
Bahamas broadcaster Eyewitness News on Thursday reported that the Supreme Court would hear the bail application on Jan. 17, without citing sources.
U.S. prosecutors say Bankman-Fried engaged in a scheme to defraud FTX’s customers by misappropriating their deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments on behalf of his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC.
Bankman-Fried amassed a fortune valued over $20 billion as he rode a cryptocurrency boom to build FTX into one of the world’s largest exchanges before it abruptly collapsed this year.
