FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried consents to extradition to the U.S.

NASSAU –

Sam Bankman-Fried has consented to be extradited to the United States, the place he faces fraud expenses, in response to an affidavit his lawyer learn on Wednesday at a courtroom listening to within the Bahamas.

It paves the best way for the founding father of the FTX cryptocurrency change to be flown to the United States as early as this afternoon.

Bankman-Fried determined to conform to extradition partially out of a “desire to make the relevant customers whole,” in response to the affidavit, which is dated Dec 20.

Dressed in a go well with, Bankman-Fried stepped as much as the witness field in courtroom, the place he spoke clearly and steadily as he was sworn in.

“Yes, I do want to waive my proper to such formal extradition proceedings,” he informed the choose.

His defence lawyer informed the choose that his shopper was “anxious to leave.”

The listening to was adjourned after the statements.

Officials with the FBI and the United States Marshals Service – which handles transportation of people in U.S. custody – have arrived in capital Nassau, an individual conversant in the matter stated on Wednesday morning.

It was not instantly clear when Bankman-Fried would depart the Caribbean nation for New York.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan final week charged the 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul with stealing billions of {dollars} in FTX buyer belongings to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, in what U.S. Attorney Damian Williams referred to as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”

Bankman-Fried was arrested on a U.S. extradition request final week in The Bahamas, the place he lives and the place FTX is predicated. He initially stated he would contest extradition, however Reuters and different retailers reported over the weekend that he would reverse that call.

Bankman-Fried’s U.S.-based protection lawyer, Mark Cohen, didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Wednesday. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s workplace in Manhattan declined to touch upon Wednesday.

Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, however has stated he doesn’t imagine he has felony legal responsibility.

Wednesday’s listening to will observe a complicated sequence of occasions this week that left the standing of Bankman-Fried’s anticipated extradition unclear.

On Monday, following the news stories he had agreed to be extradited, Bankman-Fried arrived on the courthouse in a black van marked “Corrections” carrying a blue go well with jacket and white shirt – a distinction to the informal apparel he was identified for whereas working FTX.

At the listening to, his native defence lawyer Jerone Roberts stated he was not knowledgeable of the aim of the continuing. After a quick recess, Roberts stated his shopper had seen an affidavit outlining the costs towards him, however needed entry to the complete U.S. indictment towards him earlier than consenting to extradition.

The proceedings have been then adjourned. They had been anticipated to renew on Tuesday morning, however Bankman-Fried’s authorized papers weren’t prepared in time.

Bankman-Fried rode a crypto increase to turn into a billionaire a number of instances over and an influential U.S. political donor, earlier than FTX’s crash worn out his wealth and tarnished his fame. The collapse was pushed by a wave of buyer withdrawals amid issues over commingling of funds with Alameda.

The $32-billion change declared chapter on Nov. 11, and Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO the identical day.

He has since been detained at The Bahamas Department of Corrections in Nassau, referred to as Fox Hill jail. The U.S. State Department in a 2021 report described circumstances on the facility as “harsh,” citing overcrowding, rodent infestation and prisoners counting on buckets as bathrooms.

Local authorities say circumstances have since improved.

Reporting by Jared Higgs, Marco Bello and Maria Alejandra Cardona in Nassau, and by Jasper Ward in Washington Additional reporting and writing by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Matthew Lewis, Mark Potter, Nick Zieminski and Anna Driver