Sam Bankman-Fried set to go away Bahamas for the US
Sam Bankman-Fried is ready to go away the Bahamas for New York after waiving his proper to problem an extradition to the US, the place he faces a number of fraud expenses over the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency change.
The workplace of the Bahamian attorney-general confirmed Bankman-Fried was at a Nassau airport ready to depart the Caribbean island on Wednesday night, after authorities obtained “written consent” from the FTX founder to “be extradited with out formal extradition proceedings”.
An individual near Bankman-Fried stated they anticipated him to look in a Manhattan court docket on Thursday morning.
Bankman-Fried had appeared earlier at a Nassau courthouse underneath heavy police guard. The listening to concluded about 40 minutes after his defence lawyer informed the court docket he’s “anxious to go away” the Caribbean nation, Reuters reported.
The US Division of Justice final week filed charges towards Bankman-Fried and accused him of orchestrating “one of many biggest financial frauds in American historical past” by misappropriating buyer belongings from FTX to his personal buying and selling agency Alameda Analysis. He was arrested final week within the Bahamas, the place he lives.
US embassy officers entered the courthouse in Nassau shortly earlier than Bankman-Fried, based on Reuters. Personnel from the FBI and US Marshals Service had additionally arrived on the island, the information company reported.
Beneath US legislation, Bankman-Fried have to be introduced earlier than a Justice of the Peace in Manhattan inside two days of touchdown in New York, for an preliminary listening to wherein the costs towards him might be learn out.
A choice may even be made on whether or not to grant the FTX founder bail till a trial begins and, if that’s the case, on what circumstances. The previous billionaire’s request final week to be launched on bail within the Bahamas had been denied by an area choose.
Ought to he arrive in New York after court docket hours, Bankman-Fried would most likely be held in custody in a single day inside the court docket complicated. Had been he to be denied bail, Bankman-Fried would then be transferred to a pre-trial facility, such because the infamous Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn, the place Jeffrey Epstein’s confederate Ghislaine Maxwell was held whereas on trial.
Since his arrest within the Bahamas final week, Bankman-Fried had been held at a Nassau jail identified for its harsh circumstances.
