Reports said that Sam Bankman-Fried, the jailed founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has signed papers on December 20 that will soon see him handed over to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and flown to the United States to face criminal charges.
It has been reported that the move was expected, as Bankman-Fried was reported to have agreed in principle on December 19 to being extradited to the US, despite earlier reports indicating that he wanted to see the indictment against him first.
However, ABC News reported that Bankman-Fried signed extradition papers on December 20, citing the Bahamas' acting commissioner of corrections, Doan Cleare. A December 20 report from Bloomberg quoted Cleare as saying that the exchange founder signed surrender documents on December 20, and was set on December 21 to sign another set of papers waiving his rights to fight extradition, which could see him placed on a flight bound for the US that same day.
The report said that after the final paper is signed, Bankman-Fried is expected to be whisked away by FBI agents to a private airport and transit to the US on a private flight, where he faces eight counts in an indictment by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Likewise, the New York Times reported on December 20 that Bankman-Fried’s legal team is currently in discussion with federal prosecutors to allow him to be released on bail when he is extradited to the United States. The agreement would require approval from the federal judge overseeing SBF’s case, and could include “highly restrictive conditions” such as home detention and electronic monitoring, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
He faces charges from the Department of Justice relating to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, commodities and securities fraud and campaign finance violations. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison if convicted of all counts.
The FTX founder faces further charges from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly violating commodity laws and defrauding investors. Meanwhile, a December 20 Instagram post from local media outlet Bahamas Press claiming that Bankman-Fried was being “rushed” to the hospital from prison had made the rounds on social media, but was debunked soon after.
Thus, New York Times financial reporter Rob Copeland tweeted that he spoke to the head of the prison, who said the exchange founder was eating lunch in the medical bay and that the rumor was false.
Source: Cointelegraph