FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was despatched again to a Bahamas jail Monday after a reported plan for him to waive his extradition to the U.S. stalled.
Reports over the weekend indicated that Bankman-Fried would consent to extradition, however the former crypto billionaire instructed a special story Monday, demanding to see a replica of his federal indictment earlier than agreeing to return to the U.S. He will return to Fox Hill jail quite than surrendering himself to U.S. custody.
Bankman-Fried’s authorized staff signaled that they might struggle extradition final week. CNBC and a number of other different retailers reported that Bankman-Fried had modified his thoughts and would as a substitute submit himself for extradition on Monday.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (C) is led away handcuffed by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force on the Nassau, Bahamas, courthouse on December 19, 2022.
Kris Ingraham | Afp | Getty Images
In open courtroom, chaos reigned. Bankman-Fried, wearing a blue go well with and white button down, was visibly shaking. His Bahamian protection legal professional instructed the courtroom that he was “shocked” that Bankman-Fried was in courtroom.
“I did not request him to be here this morning,” the legal professional mentioned. Franklyn Williams KC, the Bahamian prosecutor, mentioned that he “understood that [Bankman-Fried] intended to waive extradition,” in response to an NBC News producer current within the courtroom.
The FTX founder arrived at Bahamian courtroom in a convoy of police autos, closely guarded, simply after 10 A.M. Eastern Time.
The transfer comes simply days after he was remanded to the medical unit of Bahamas’ infamous Fox Hill jail.
The State Department in a 2020 report referred to as the situations at Fox Hill Prison “harsh,” citing “overcrowding, poor nutrition, inadequate sanitation, poor ventilation, and inadequate medical care.”
Sam Bankman-Fried, founding father of FTX, is escorted inside the Magistrate’s Court in Nassau, Bahamas, on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.
Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Medical care particularly is spotty on the Bahamian jail, the report mentioned. The former billionaire was transported from certainly one of his a number of multi-million greenback penthouse houses to the jail final week — although Bankman-Fried was entitled to his personal room within the medical wing, Bloomberg reported.
Sam Bankman-Fried faces life in federal jail, with out the potential for supervised launch, if convicted on simply certainly one of eight offenses that prosecutors have charged him with.
His sentence could possibly be diminished by mitigating components. Trial legal professionals and former prosecutors say that, in follow, many white-collar defendants are given lesser sentences than what the rules dictate. So, even in massive fraud instances, you may see life sentences drastically diminished.
