FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Agrees to Extradition to US

FTX founder Sam-Bankman Fried has reportedly agreed to be extradited to the United States. 

His legal team is working out the details, bringing Bankman-Fried that much closer to being transferred to U.S. custody from his current imprisonment in the Bahamas, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday (Dec. 19), citing a person familiar with the matter. 

The team hopes to have a new hearing on Tuesday (Dec. 20), according to the report. 

This follows a “chaotic” court hearing held Monday and a phone call between Bankman-Fried, his lawyer in the Bahamas and his legal team in the U.S., the report said. 

As PYMNTS has reported, the Monday court hearing saw confusion from the start, with Bankman-Fried’s lawyer telling the court he was not aware of his client’s plans, Bankman-Fried wanting to read his indictment before making a decision regarding extradition and the hearing being adjourned with no ruling being given. 

Just two days earlier, on Saturday (Dec. 17), it had been reported that Bankman-Fried would not fight extradition to the U.S. 

On Tuesday (Dec. 13), he was denied bail in the Bahamas while awaiting an extradition effort to return him to the U.S. 

While Bankman-Fried had requested bail be set at $250,000 during his first court appearance after his Dec. 12 arrest, the presiding judge rejected that request and ordered that he be sent to prison. 

During that appearance, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said he would fight extradition to the U.S. 

In the U.S., Bankman-Fried faces charges brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

A federal indictment Dec. 12 revealed that he is being charged by the DOJ with eight counts that range from wire fraud to various conspiracy counts. If convicted, Bankman-Fried faces substantial jail time, as wire fraud sentences alone can run up to 20 years. 

Separately, a civil complaint from the SEC charged him with two counts of civil securities fraud and alleged that Bankman-Fried and FTX’s crypto empire was fraudulent “from the start” — going back to May 2019. 

The CFTC has charged him and FTX with two counts of violating antifraud provisions in the Commodity Exchange Act. It is requesting a juried trial. 

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