FTX founder to be extradited from Bahamas to face charges in US
21 December 2022, 18:14
Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, could potentially spend the rest of his life in jail.
Sam Bankman-Fried has told a court in the Bahamas that he has agreed to be extradited to the US to face criminal charges related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The former FTX CEO left a magistrate’s court and headed to Odyssey Aviation to return to the United States, according to Bahamian news organisation Our News.
Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried last week at the request of the US government.
Prosecutors allege he played a central role in the rapid collapse of FTX and hid its problems from the public and investors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Bankman-Fried illegally used investors’ money to buy property on behalf of himself and his family.
The 30-year-old could potentially spend the rest of his life in jail.
Bankman-Fried was denied bail on Friday after a Bahamian judge ruled that he posed a flight risk.
The founder and former CEO of FTX, once worth tens of billions of dollars on paper, is being held in the Bahamas’ Fox Hill prison, which has been has been cited by human rights activists as having poor sanitation and as being infested with rats and insects.
Once he is back in the US, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer will be able to request that he be released on bail.
