Disgraced former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to reverse his decision to contest extradition from the Bahamas to the U.S., where prosecutors have charged him with fraud, according to a report.
Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in Bahamian court Monday to consent to extradition, a source told Reuters. He was charged Dec.13 with eight criminal counts of fraud and conspiracy by U.S. prosecutors from the Southern District of New York.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas and agree to be extradited to the United States, where he faces fraud charges https://t.co/EZ9IUjXTyl
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 19, 2022
According to the indictment, Bankman-Fried “agreed with others to defraud customers of FTX.com by misappropriating those customers’ deposits and using those deposits to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s proprietary crypto hedge fund, and to make investments.”
He also faces civil complaints from multiple regulatory authorities on allegations of fraud based on misusing customer funds. Consenting to extradition would pave the way for Bankman-Fried to face the prosecutors’ charges in court, Reuters reported.
An initial hearing would take place within 48 hours of Bankman-Fried’s arrival and he would be asked to enter a plea, Reuters reported. Prosecutors would likely argue Bankman-Fried is a flight risk and should remain in custody instead of receiving bail, Reuters added.
Bankman-Fried has been living in the Bahamas, where his bankrupt crypto exchange FTX was based. He was remanded Tuesday to the Bahamas’ Fox Hill prison, a facility rife with “overcrowding, poor nutrition, inadequate sanitation, and inadequate medical care,” according to a 2020 State Department report.
The prison cells were “infested with rats, maggots, and insects” and inmates “developed bedsores from lying on bare ground” because of a lack of bedding, the State Department found. (RELATED: Bankman-Fried’s Family Are Concerned The Jail Isn’t Providing Him A Vegan Option)
FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 11 in the wake of reports alleging customer funds were misused. The exchange and its U.S. subsidiary were valued at $40 billion in January 2022, after a fundraising round.
Bankman-Fried’s net worth peaked at $26.5 billion and was estimated at $17.2 billion in September 2022. He had approximately $100,000 remaining in his bank account the last time he checked.