FTX founder to reportedly reverse course at next court hearing
3 min read
close video Inside Nassau, Bahamas jail where Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly being held
File video from 2022 shows squalid condition as Nassau, Bahamas’ correctional facility known as Fox Hill Prison. (Nassau Guardian via Reuters)
Newly indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is slated to appear in court in the Bahamas again on Monday, where he reportedly will change course and agree to no longer fight extradition to the U.S.
Reuters first reported news of the reversal on Saturday.
An unnamed official who interacts with Bankman-Fried on a daily basis at the Bahamian prison known as Fox Hill told The Washington Post that the disgraced FTX founder remarked Friday that he would agree to be extradited back to the US to "face the music" if his lawyers could not persuade a judge to grant him bail.
Their first attempt at bail failed after telling the judge Bankman-Fried should be released in order to continue his vegan dietary needs and continue medication for depression, insomnia and ADHD.
Bankman-Fried was arrested Monday and indicted Tuesday in Manhattan federal court on fraud, money laundering and campaign finance charges in connection to an alleged scheme to misappropriate billions of dollars of customer funds deposited with the international cryptocurrency exchange FTX and mislead investors and lenders to FTX and to Alameda Research, the cryptocurrency hedge fund he also founded.
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, FTX FOUNDER, CHARGED WITH FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING
In the days afterward, federal prosecutors have been contacting Democratic and Republican campaigns about donations received from the FTX founder.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is led away handcuffed by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas on December 13, 2022. (MARIO DUNCANSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Those receiving emails from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York include the campaign of incoming House minority leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as well as Elias Law Group, a firm launched last year by leading Democratic attorney Marc Elias that represents the DNC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the New York Times reported.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, left, and his mother Barbara Fried at the Magistrate’s Court in Nassau, Bahamas, on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. (Katanga Johnson/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Bankman-Fried, 30, was the second-biggest individual Democratic donor during the 2022 midterm election cycle behind top-ranking liberal billionaire contributor George Soros.
(EDITORS NOTE: Best quality available) Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, center right, is escorted out of the Magistrate’s Court in Nassau, Bahamas, on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. Bankman-Fried was denied bail by a judge, leaving the disgraced co-founde (George Robinson/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The cryptocurrency mogul ranked sixth on the overall list of individual donors for the 2022 midterms regarding federal contributions. According to the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Open Secrets, Bankman-Fried’s total contributions during he midterm election cycle amounted to nearly $40 million, with the majority going to Democrats. Just about $235,200 of that amount went to Republicans.
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If he waives his right to extradition, an initial court appearance in Manhattan must take place within 48 hours of Bankman-Fried's arrival in the United States, according to Reuters.
