FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried extradited to US on fraud charges

A plane carrying the former chief executive officer of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has arrived from the Bahamas in the United States, where he faces fraud charges over the collapse of the crypto exchange that wiped out billions in valuations.

Bankman-Fried is expected to appear before a US court on Thursday following his extradition.

The attorney general's office of the Bahamas had earlier said that Bankman-Fried was scheduled for extradition on Wednesday after having waived his legal right to challenge the move. He will now be presented in front of a New York court judge on Thursday.

Later, a US federal magistrate judge announced that Bankman-Fried will be released on a $250 million (€236 million) bond package.

"The Bahamas has determined that the provisional arrest, and subsequent written consent by (Bankman-Fried) to be extradited without formal extradition proceedings satisfies the requirements of the (extradition treaty between the US and the Bahamas) and our nation's Extradition Act,'' said Bahamian Attorney General Ryan Pinder, in a statement.

Reports suggested boarded the plane to the US at a private airfield near Nassau's main airport, arriving there in a dark SUV. 

'Largest ever pretrial bond'

Prosecutor Nicolas Roos said that Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail package would require him to surrender his passport.

He will also be required to remain in confinement at his parent's home in Palo Alto, California, where he will undergo regular mental health treatment and evaluation.

Roos said that this was the "largest ever pretrial bond."

Bankman-Fried's legal counsel said he agreed to the conditions.

Former associates plead guilty

Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said two of Bankman-Fried's closest former associates had pleaded guilty to defrauding investors on the crypto-trading platform.

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of FTX's sister company Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, were now cooperating with the government, significantly ramping up pressure on the former billionaire.

Williams also urged others involved in the alleged fraud to come forward in a video he posted on Twitter, saying if people "participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it." 

"We are moving quickly and our patience is not eternal," he added.

Fall from crypto heights

FTX, which had been among the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11 in one of the highest-profile crypto blowups after traders pulled $6 billion (€5.7 billion) from the platform in three days.

Bankman-Fried resigned as FTX's CEO the same day.

On December 13, US federal prosecutors indicted him with eight counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and election finance violations. They accused the 30-year-old of cheating investors in FTX and misusing funds that belonged to customers of FTX and its sister firm Alameda Research.

Bahamian authorities arrested him on the same day and later denied bail due to him being a flight risk.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has also charged him separately for violating security laws.

mk/jsi (AP, AFP, Reuters)