The FTX founder will not fight extradition and will be flown to the U.S. to face a long list of charges.
Key Details
A Bahamas judge approved Sam Bankman-Fried’s extradition on Wednesday—meaning he will be sent to the U.S. to face criminal charges.
The FTX co-founder told a judge in Nassau that he was waiving his right to fight extradition. “I do wish to waive my rights to formal extradition proceedings,” he said.
U.S. authorities will take custody of the 30-year-old crypto exchange founder.
WHY IT’S NEWS
The decision comes following SBF’s arrest two weeks ago by the Bahaman government and his placement in Fox Hill Prison, widely regarded as one of the more dangerous prisons in the world. The Bahamas Corrections Commissioner says he has been staying in the prison sick bay. The Washington Post reports he is in a maximum-security cell with access to movies and the internet.
SBF faces up to 115 years in prison for his charges. His next step is to fly to the U.S. and be charged. Prosecutors will announce his bail afterward but reportedly consider him a flight risk. A subsequent trial would likely be scheduled for one year after that. His bail meeting is currently set for January 17, 2023.
“Upon arrival in the United States, Bankman-Fried would likely be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, though some federal defendants are being held at jails just outside New York City due to overcrowding at the facility,” says Reuters.
SBF was responsible for the collapse of FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world which declared bankruptcy on November 11 following an insolvency crisis. Restructuring lawyer John J. Ray III called the company one of the worst-run financial institutions he’s ever seen. SBF was scheduled to appear before congress last Tuesday before his arrest in the Bahamas.