FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted by corrections officers to the Justice of the Peace’s Courtroom on December 21, 2022 in Nassau, Bahamas.
Joe Raedle | Getty Photographs
Sam Bankman-Fried is flying Wednesday night time to New York, in line with the workplace of the Lawyer Basic of The Bahamas, the place he’s later anticipated to be arraigned in U.S. federal court docket, concluding a days-long saga.
Bankman-Fried, 30, was indicted in New York federal court docket on Dec. 9 and arrested three days later by Bahamas regulation enforcement on the request of U.S. prosecutors.
His lawyer, Jerone Roberts, studying from an affidavit signed Dec. 20, informed the court docket that Bankman-Fried was consenting to extradition partially on account of a “need to make the related prospects entire.” Bankman-Fried was “anxious to go away,” Roberts informed the court docket.
It’s unclear how his return would assist plug the $8 billion balance sheet hole that, in line with federal complaints, got here on account of dangerous buying and selling and indulgent spending by FTX executives.
Bankman-Fried will face arraignment and bail proceedings after he lands. Not like different white-collar instances, nonetheless, Bankman-Fried faces a specific set of challenges.
“That is clearly not the standard case,” former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti informed CNBC. “He’s dealing with a long time in jail. And he does not have ties to the neighborhood in SDNY like a typical defendant would and in addition has ties to a international jurisdiction. So prosecutors have a shot at getting the decide to order detention until the defendant posts property or a major money bond.”
All through the extradition waiver course of, Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas authorized staff and U.S. attorneys have seemed to be at loggerheads. His authorized staff initially said that they’d struggle extradition makes an attempt, however on Saturday an individual acquainted with the matter informed CNBC that the crypto billionaire had changed his mind and would return to the United States.
On Monday morning, Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas counsel mentioned the previous billionaire would not return to the USA with out viewing a duplicate of his indictment, with the lawyer telling a Bahamas Justice of the Peace that he was “shocked” to even see Bankman-Fried in court docket.
Chaos ensued as reporters and attorneys for Bankman-Fried tried to pin down whether or not the previous crypto billionaire can be rendered again to the USA for arraignment in federal court docket.
Lastly, on Tuesday, a Bahamas jail official and a supply acquainted with the matter confirmed that Bankman-Fried had signed extradition paperwork and would seem for his closing listening to in Nassau on Thursday.
When Bankman-Fried lands in New York, the so-far atypical proceedings ought to tackle a extra acquainted tenor. In a typical federal case, the accused “can be taken to the detention middle for processing earlier than the preliminary detention listening to/arraignment,” former CFTC trial lawyer & Kennyhertz Perry accomplice Braden Perry informed CNBC.
“However once more, if organized upfront with the Justice of the Peace in command of the detention listening to, the court docket could enable a listening to earlier than processing, however that’s unlikely. His attorneys may additionally waive the detention listening to, at the least for now, and request a extra detailed evidentiary listening to to make sure their finest arguments are made with correct proof for detention, because it’s often a one-time shot at getting out earlier than trial,” Perry continued.
Bankman-Fried stands accused by federal regulation enforcement and financial regulators of perpetrating what the SEC called one of many largest and most “brazen” frauds in current reminiscence. Alternative CEO John J. Ray described a “complete failure of corporate control” on the firm.
Federal regulators have alleged that Bankman-Fried used that $8 billion price of buyer property for extravagant actual property purchases and vainness tasks, together with stadium naming rights and millions in political donations.
CNBC’s Kate Rooney contributed to this report.
