FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Bahamas on flight to US to face criminal charges

NASSAU – Sam Bankman-Fried is

on a flight to the United States

to face a litany of criminal charges tied to his role in the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, after days-long legal drama in the Bahamas.

The FTX co-founder and former chief executive boarded a small white plane at a private airport in Nassau in the custody of US agents and took off just before 7.45pm local time on Wednesday (8.45am on Thursday, Singapore time).

Bankman-Fried was expected to land near New York City, where federal prosecutors last week unsealed an eight-count indictment against him that could put him behind bars for dozens of years.

His departure marks the end of a particularly chaotic chapter in the FTX bankruptcy saga.

Bankman-Fried was

arrested last week in his US$30 million (S$40.5 million) penthouse

by the Bahamian authorities at the request of US officials.  

Since being denied bail at an initial Bahamas court hearing last week, Bankman-Fried was held in a correctional facility on the outskirts of Nassau, commonly known as Fox Hill.

The notorious prison is a far cry from the luxury property where he had lived after setting up FTX’s headquarters in the Bahamas.

Once back in the US, he is likely to be arraigned within hours and his lawyers may present a case for him being granted bail. It was not immediately clear at which American airport Bankman-Fried would land.

US prosecutors in Manhattan last week charged the 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul with stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer assets to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, in what US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams called “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history”.

Bankman-Fried earlier left the courthouse, surrounded by guards with assault weapons, and entered a vehicle, according to Reuters.

The Bahamas’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Foreign Minister had signed off on allowing Bankman-Fried’s extradition to the United States.

Bankman-Fried decided to agree to extradition in part out of a “desire to make the relevant customers whole”, according to an affidavit read in court on Wednesday and dated Dec 20.

Dressed in a suit, he stepped up to the witness box in court, where he spoke clearly and steadily as he was sworn in.

Bankman-Fried’s defence lawyer, Mr Jerone Roberts, said his client was “anxious to leave”.

Judge Shaka Serville said he was satisfied that all legal requirements for extradition had been met and that Bankman-Fried had not been “forced, coerced or threatened” into making the decision.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Mr Roberts requested that the “rule of speciality” be followed.

This rule, which is in the Bahamas’ extradition treaty with the US, says a person can be tried only on the charges for which he is extradited.

Bankman-Fried’s US-based defence lawyer, Mr Mark Cohen, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, but has said he does not believe he has criminal liability.

Bankman-Fried rode a crypto boom to become a billionaire several times over and an influential US political donor, before FTX’s crash wiped out his wealth and tarnished his reputation. The collapse was driven by a wave of customer withdrawals amid concerns over commingling of funds with Alameda.

The US$32 billion exchange declared bankruptcy on Nov 11, and Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO on the same day.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS