SBF told the magistrate judge that he wanted to see the indictment against him before agreeing to be extradited to the U.S.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), a former CEO of FTX who is currently charged with numerous counts of wire fraud and securities fraud, reportedly stated that he would not consent to extradition to the United States until he had seen the indictment against him.
Bankman-Fried allegedly stated that he was willing to not fight the process needed for extradition to the United States but wanted to see all the charges against him when he appeared in an emergency session of the Bahamas Magistrate Court on Dec. 19 for the first time since his bail was refused.
He spent the previous week at the “harsh” Fox Hill Prison in the Bahamas, a facility where physical abuse of inmates has been documented in the past. The Bitboy Crypto team, who manage YouTuber Ben Armstrong, tweeted that they attended the hearing in person to “see @SBF FTX in the eyes.”
The Justice Department, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States have accused Bankman-Fried of cheating lenders and investors.
Under his direction, FTX and connected parties reportedly broke campaign finance regulations by giving millions of dollars to political candidates. Why the former CEO of FTX might not object to extradition is unclear. According to sources, if he is found guilty of all charges, he could receive a 115-year term.
After the hearing, he was transferred back into the custody of the Bahamas Department of Corrections, where he will stay until February 8. On December 12, just hours after he had finished a series of online interviews as part of the former CEO’s apology tour for the collapse of FTX, authorities in the Bahamas detained Bankman-Fried.
According to the authorities, SBF was initially sent to the hospital wing of the prison, perhaps so that his medication, which included Adderall and antidepressants, could be administered.
