FTX co-founder plans to surrender for extradition to U.S. in front of Bahamian court

December 20, 2022: -FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried will not be the contest extradition to the U.S. anymore, an about-face just days after he was remanded to Bahamian jail is yet to hear the final decision, a person familiar with the matter stated.

On Monday, the former crypto billionaire will appear in Bahamian court to waive his extradition rights, paving the way for federal authorities to protect his return to the U.S.

A 1991 treaty codifies extradition between the Bahamas and the U.S. In practice, the process takes a lot of time, if not years, then many years to complete because the accused has numerous chances of appealing. Bankman-Fried’s legal team had said that it decided to fight extradition. The change of heart would significantly increase the timeline for Bankman-Fried’s federal trial.

The 30-year-old MIT graduate was initially scheduled for his next hearing in February 2023.

On Monday, Bankman-Fried indicting in a New York federal court on allegations of wire fraud, securities fraud, planning to defraud the United States, and money laundering. If convicted, he could face the rest of his life in jail.

The former FTX CEO is facing concurrent blames from the Securities and transfer Commission and the Commodity Trading Commission regarding similar allegations that he has been working to defraud FTX customers of many dollars since 2019, the year the exchange exists.

At the soul of Bankman-Fried’s kingdom was Alameda Research, a crypto hedge amount that federal regulators allege used FTX customer money to connect in trading, losing all the money.

FTX’s collapse was poured when reporting by CoinDesk revealed a highly concentrated area in self-issued FTT coins that Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Research did as collateral for billions in crypto loans. Binance has also announced it would send its stake in FTT, which spurred a huge withdrawal in the money.

The company froze assets and suggested bankruptcy after many days. The allegations from the SEC and CFTC indicated that FTX had commingled customer amounts with Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge amount, Alameda Research and that billions in customer deposits are being lost along the way.