Sam Bankman-Fried has decided to agree to extradition to the United States on fraud charges, a person familiar with the matter said Monday, just hours after the FTX founder’s attorney told a judge in the Bahamas he was not ready , agree.
The turnaround paves the way for the 30-year-old cryptocurrency Mogul faces charges in New York on charges he stole billions from FTX Clients to recoup losses at Alameda Research, his hedge fund, before the stock market abruptly collapsed in November.
It was not immediately clear when Bankman-Fried would leave the Bahamas, where he was arrested on December 12 on a US extradition request. No further court date was set at the conclusion of Monday’s hearing.
His US-based defense attorney, Mark Cohen, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bankman-Fried’s abrupt decision came after a tumultuous appearance Monday morning before Judge Shaka Serville in a court in the capital, Nassau, after Reuters and other media outlets reported over the weekend that he had decided to reverse his decision to contest the extradition.
At the hearing, his local criminal defense attorney, Jerone Roberts, initially told Serville that he didn’t know why Bankman-Fried was being tried Monday morning.
After a pause, the attorney said Bankman-Fried saw an affidavit setting out the charges against him, but wanted to see the charges against him, which were filed in federal court in New York last week, before agreeing to extradition .
Serville said at the hearing that he could not do anything about Bankman-Fried’s extradition without the former billionaire’s consent.
“I can only be moved by Mr. Bankman-Fried, and he didn’t move me,” Serville said.
Bankman-Fried was given a chance to speak to his U.S. attorney over the phone and was then sent back to the Caribbean state’s Fox Hill prison. He exited the courthouse in a black van marked “Corrections” and carrying a Manila briefcase with papers, a Reuters witness said.
Franklyn Williams — the Bahamas’ assistant director of legal affairs, who represents the United States in its bid to extradite Bankman-Fried — called the day’s proceedings “incredible” and appeared frustrated by the delay.
Make the customers right
The 30 year old crypto Mogul boomed in the value of Bitcoin and other digital assets to become a multi-billionaire and an influential political financier in the United States until FTX collapsed after a wave of withdrawals in early November. The exchange filed for bankruptcy on November 11.
Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management failures at FTX but said he doesn’t believe he is criminally responsible.
During Monday’s hearing, Bankman-Fried wore a dark blue jacket and an open white shirt — a departure from the casual attire he’d worn to frequent public appearances across the United States and while directing FTX from a posh corner of Nassau.
He only spoke to greet Serville and to confirm that he would speak to his US attorney. At one point during the hearing, Bankman-Fried sat back with his eyes closed and appeared to be woken up by a court official.
On December 13, the day after his arrest, Bankman-Fried was transferred to a correctional facility in the Bahamas. A 2021 State Department report on the facility said detainees faced rodents and a shortage of toilets, although local authorities said conditions had since improved. At his December 13 hearing, he described the night of his arrest as “hectic.”
After Monday’s hearing, his Bahamas criminal attorney, Roberts, told the New York Times his client had agreed to voluntary extradition and he hoped Bankman-Fried would be back in court later this week.
“We as lawyers will prepare the necessary documents to start the court,” the newspaper quoted Roberts as saying. “Mr. Bankman-Fried wants to put customers right and that drove his decision.”
Roberts could not be immediately reached for comment.
Krystal Rolle, an attorney who has represented Bankman-Fried on noncriminal matters in the Bahamas, also confirmed comments Roberts had previously made to local broadcaster Eyewitness News Bahamas that Bankman-Fried would voluntarily waive his right to an extradition hearing .
© Thomson Reuters 2022
