Unique: Sam Bankman-Fried to reverse determination on contesting extradition – Reuters

Dec 17 (Reuters) – Former FTX Chief Government Sam Bankman-Fried is predicted to look in court docket within the Bahamas on Monday to reverse his determination to contest extradition to america, the place he faces fraud costs, an individual conversant in the matter stated on Saturday.

The 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul was indicted in federal court docket in Manhattan on Tuesday and accused of participating in a scheme to defraud FTX clients by utilizing billions of {dollars} in stolen deposits to pay for bills and money owed and to make investments for his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Analysis LLC.

His determination to consent to extradition would pave the best way for him to look in U.S. court docket to face wire fraud, cash laundering and marketing campaign finance costs.

Upon arrival in america, Bankman-Fried would probably be held on the Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn, although some federal defendants are being held at jails simply exterior New York Metropolis because of overcrowding on the facility, stated protection lawyer Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma.

At his preliminary court docket listening to in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried could be requested to enter a plea and a decide would make a willpower on bail, Margulis-Ohnuma stated. The lawyer added that such a listening to should happen inside 48 hours of Bankman-Fried’s arrival in america, although it could probably be sooner.

Prosecutors will probably argue that Bankman-Fried is a flight danger and will stay in custody due to the massive sums of cash concerned within the case and the unclear location of these funds.

“The lacking cash offers prosecutors robust arguments that he’s a flight danger,” stated former federal prosecutor and white-collar protection lawyer Michael Weinstein. “I anticipate that if a decide grants pretrial launch, they’d impose very restrictive and onerous circumstances.”

Any trial is probably going greater than a 12 months away, authorized specialists informed Reuters.

Neither a spokesman nor a U.S.-based lawyer for Bankman-Fried instantly responded to requests for remark. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged danger administration failings at FTX however has stated he doesn’t consider he has prison legal responsibility.

A spokesman for the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Manhattan declined to remark.

‘BIGGEST FINANCIAL FRAUDS IN AMERICAN HISTORY’

It was not instantly clear what prompted Bankman-Fried to alter his thoughts and determine to not contest extradition.

He was remanded on Tuesday to the Bahamas’ Fox Hill jail after Chief Justice of the Peace JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt rejected his request to stay at residence whereas awaiting a listening to on his extradition.

The U.S. State Division in a 2021 report stated circumstances at Fox Hill have been “harsh,” citing overcrowding, rodent infestation and prisoners counting on buckets as bogs. Authorities there say circumstances have since improved.

Bankman-Fried amassed a fortune valued at over $20 billion as he rode a cryptocurrency growth to construct FTX into one of many world’s largest exchanges. His arrest final Monday within the Bahamas, the place he lives and the place FTX relies, got here only a month after the change collapsed amid a flurry of buyer withdrawals.

Damian Williams, the highest federal prosecutor in Manhattan, described the collapse of FTX as one of many “greatest monetary frauds in American historical past.” He has described the workplace’s investigation as ongoing, and urged folks with data of wrongdoing at FTX or Alameda to cooperate.

One prime government at FTX, Ryan Salame, informed securities regulators within the Bahamas on Nov. 9 that property belonging to the change’s clients have been transferred to Alameda to cowl the hedge fund’s losses, in line with a doc made public as a part of FTX’s chapter proceedings in Delaware.

FTX filed for chapter on Nov. 11, the identical day Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO.

A lawyer for Salame didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Reporting by Jasper Ward; Further reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen; Writing by Luc Cohen; Modifying by Chizu Nomiyama, Chris Reese, Amy Stevens and Jonathan Oatis

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.

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