Unique-Sam Bankman-Fried to reverse determination on contesting extradition By Reuters

By Jasper Ward

(Reuters) – Former FTX Chief Govt Sam Bankman-Fried is predicted to look in court docket within the Bahamas on Monday to reverse his determination to contest extradition to america, the place he faces fraud costs, an individual accustomed to the matter mentioned on Saturday.

The 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul was indicted in federal court docket in Manhattan on Tuesday and accused of partaking in a scheme to defraud FTX prospects through the use of billions of {dollars} in stolen deposits to pay for bills and money owed and to make investments for his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Analysis LLC.

His determination to consent to extradition would pave the way in which for him to look in U.S. court docket to face wire fraud, cash laundering and marketing campaign finance costs.

Upon arrival in america, Bankman-Fried would probably be held on the Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn, although some federal defendants are being held at jails simply exterior New York Metropolis on account of overcrowding on the facility, mentioned protection lawyer Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma.

At his preliminary court docket listening to in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried could be requested to enter a plea and a choose would make a dedication on bail, Margulis-Ohnuma mentioned. The legal professional added that such a listening to should happen inside 48 hours of Bankman-Fried’s arrival in america, although it could probably be sooner.

Prosecutors will probably argue that Bankman-Fried is a flight threat and may stay in custody due to the massive sums of cash concerned within the case and the unclear location of these funds.

“The lacking cash provides prosecutors robust arguments that he’s a flight threat,” mentioned former federal prosecutor and white-collar protection legal professional Michael Weinstein. “I anticipate that if a choose grants pretrial launch, they’d impose very restrictive and onerous circumstances.”

Any trial is probably going greater than a yr away, authorized specialists instructed Reuters.

A spokesman for Bankman-Fried declined to remark. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged threat administration failings at FTX however has mentioned he doesn’t imagine he has felony legal responsibility.

A spokesman for the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Manhattan declined to remark.

‘BIGGEST FINANCIAL FRAUDS IN AMERICAN HISTORY’

It was not instantly clear what prompted Bankman-Fried to vary his thoughts and resolve to not contest extradition.

He was remanded on Tuesday to the Bahamas’ Fox Hill jail after Chief Justice of the Peace JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt rejected his request to stay at house whereas awaiting a listening to on his extradition.

The U.S. State Division in a 2021 report mentioned circumstances at Fox Hill had been “harsh,” citing overcrowding, rodent infestation and prisoners counting on buckets as bathrooms. Authorities there say circumstances have since improved.

Bankman-Fried amassed a fortune valued at over $20 billion as he rode a cryptocurrency growth to construct FTX into one of many world’s largest exchanges. His arrest final Monday within the Bahamas, the place he lives and the place FTX is predicated, got here only a month after the trade collapsed amid a flurry of buyer withdrawals.

Damian Williams, the highest federal prosecutor in Manhattan, described the collapse of FTX as one of many “greatest monetary frauds in American historical past.” He has described the workplace’s investigation as ongoing, and urged individuals with data of wrongdoing at FTX or Alameda to cooperate.

One high government at FTX, Ryan Salame, instructed securities regulators within the Bahamas on Nov. 9 that belongings belonging to the trade’s prospects had been transferred to Alameda to cowl the hedge fund’s losses, in keeping with a doc made public as a part of FTX’s chapter proceedings in Delaware.

FTX filed for chapter on Nov. 11, the identical day Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO.

A lawyer for Salame didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.