FTX Co-Founder Fears extradition to the U.S.
2022.12.19 13:02
FTX Co-Founder Fears extradition to the U.S.
Budrigannews.com – Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive officer of FTX, reportedly stated that before agreeing to be extradited to the United States, he wanted to see the indictment against him regarding securities fraud and wire fraud.
Bankman-Fried reportedly stated that he was willing to not fight the process required for extradition to the United States but wanted to see all of the charges against him when he appeared in an emergency hearing of the Bahamas Magistrate Court on December 19 for the first time since his bail was denied. He spent the last week in the Bahamas’ Fox Hill Prison, where there have been reports of prisoners being physically abused and living in “harsh” conditions.
On Twitter, some crypto industry players, such as the group behind YouTuber Ben Armstrong, also known as Bitboy Crypto, stated that they attended the hearing in person to “look SBF in the eyes.”
We ready. About to go in. Guess who is in front of the line? Finally getting to look @SBF_FTX in the eyes this morning. pic.twitter.com/TtdYXZiUnD
— Ben Armstrong (@Bitboy_Crypto) December 19, 2022
The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Justice Department all accuse Bankman-Fried of defrauding investors and lenders in the United States. Additionally, FTX and associated individuals allegedly broke campaign finance laws by giving millions to political candidates while under his leadership.
If found guilty of all charges, the former FTX CEO could be sentenced to 115 years in prison, so why might he not fight extradition? After the hearing, he was taken back to the custody of the Bahamas Department of Corrections, where he was expected to remain until February 8.
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On December 12, just hours after he had conducted a series of online interviews as part of the former CEO’s apology tour related to the collapse of FTX, officials in the Bahamas arrested Bankman-Fried. According to reports from the authorities, SBF was initially transferred to the hospital wing of the prison, most likely as part of efforts to administer his medication, which included Adderall and antidepressants.
