© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Sam Bankman-Fried, who based and led FTX till a liquidity crunch compelled the cryptocurrency change to declare chapter, is escorted out of the Justice of the Peace Court docket constructing after his arrest, in Nassau, Bahamas December 13, 2022. REUTERS/Dant
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By Jared Higgs, Jack Queen and Jasper Ward
NASSAU (Reuters) -FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried left the Bahamas on Wednesday on an plane sure to the US, in accordance with an individual conversant in the matter and a Reuters witness who noticed the aircraft take off.
Bankman-Fried earlier on Wednesday consented at a Bahamas courthouse to be extradited to the US, the place he faces fraud costs.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan final week charged the 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul with stealing billions of {dollars} in FTX buyer property to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Analysis, in what U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams referred to as “one of many largest monetary frauds in American historical past.”
Bankman-Fried left the courthouse within the afternoon surrounded by guards with assault weapons, and entered a automobile, in accordance with Reuters Video.
Within the night, a motorcade arrived on the Odyssey Aviation airport within the Bahamas, in accordance with Reuters Video and a Reuters witness.
A supply conversant in the matter stated that Bankman-Fried had boarded a aircraft on the personal terminal. A Reuters witness stated the aircraft recognized because the one Bankman-Fried was on had taken off.
Bankman-Fried is more likely to seem earlier than a U.S. federal court docket in Manhattan on Thursday. At his court docket look, referred to as an arraignment, he’s anticipated to be requested to enter a plea. The U.S. choose would decide whether or not to grant him bail, and in that case, on what circumstances.
He’s anticipated to be arraigned on the eight counts he faces, together with wire fraud, cash laundering, and marketing campaign finance violations.
Bankman-Fried was arrested on a U.S. extradition request final week in The Bahamas, the place he lives and the place FTX relies. He initially stated he would contest extradition, however Reuters and different retailers reported over the weekend that he would reverse that call.
Bankman-Fried agreed to extradition partly out of a “want to make the related clients complete,” in accordance with an affidavit learn in court docket on Wednesday and dated Dec. 20.
Wearing a swimsuit, Bankman-Fried stepped as much as the witness field in court docket, the place he spoke clearly and steadily as he was sworn in.
“Sure, I do want to waive my proper to such formal extradition proceedings,” he advised Decide Shaka Serville.
Bankman-Fried’s protection lawyer, Jerone Roberts, stated his consumer was “anxious to go away.”
The choose stated he was glad that every one authorized necessities for extradition had been met and that Bankman-Fried had not been “compelled, coerced or threatened” into making the choice.
“I due to this fact formally commit you to custody whilst you await your extradition,” Serville stated.
The listening to was adjourned after the statements.
The Ministry of Overseas Affairs in The Bahamas later stated in a press release that the overseas minister had signed off on permitting Bankman-Fried’s extradition to the US.
Throughout Wednesday’s listening to, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Roberts, requested that the “rule of speciality” be adopted. This rule, which is in The Bahamas’ extradition treaty with the US, says an individual might be tried solely on the fees for which they’re extradited.
Bankman-Fried’s U.S.-based protection lawyer, Mark Cohen, didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, however has stated he doesn’t consider he has felony legal responsibility.
Bankman-Fried rode a crypto increase to develop into a billionaire a number of instances over and an influential U.S. political donor, earlier than FTX’s crash worn out his wealth and tarnished his popularity. The collapse was pushed by a wave of buyer withdrawals amid issues over commingling of funds with Alameda.
The $32 billion change declared chapter on Nov. 11, and Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO the identical day.
He has since been detained at The Bahamas Division of Corrections in Nassau, referred to as Fox Hill jail. The U.S. State Division in a 2021 report described circumstances on the facility as “harsh,” citing overcrowding, rodent infestation and prisoners counting on buckets as bathrooms.
Native authorities say circumstances have since improved.
