NASSAU, Bahamas — Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange company FTX, has been extradited to the U.S., Bahamian authorities said Wednesday.
According to The Associated Press, reporters saw Bankman-Fried, 30, leave a magistrate court in Nassau in a dark SUV. The vehicle was later seen arriving at a private airfield near Nassau’s airport.
He is due to land at Westchester County Airport in New York and is expected to appear before a judge on Thursday, the news organization reported.
BREAKING: Bahamian authorities say former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been extradited to the United States, where he faces criminal charges related to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. https://t.co/otowdfCHga
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 21, 2022
Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against him, according to a statement from the government of the Bahamas obtained by The New York Times.
The attorney general’s office in the Bahamas said that Bankman-Fried would be leaving for the U.S. later Wednesday, adding that he had waived his right to challenge the extradition.
Bankman-Fried has reportedly been under investigation by the Justice Department over the “sudden implosion of FTX,” which was a $32 billion company that filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, the Times reported.
FTX filed for bankruptcy when “it ran out of money after the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run,” according to the AP. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Bankman-Fried illegally used investors’ money to buy real estate on behalf of himself and his family, the news organization reported.
Samuel Bankman-Fried "is in FBI custody, and on his way back to the United States," Damian Williams says. "He will be transported directly to the Southern District of New York, and he will appear before a judge in this District as soon as possible." pic.twitter.com/MByje8IKca
— David Gura (@davidgura) December 22, 2022
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have charged Bankman-Fried, 30, with fraud, accusing him of orchestrating a scheme that culminated in the bankruptcy of the Bahama-based company, the Times reported.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Jerone Roberts, said that his client was “anxious to leave” the Bahamas, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“It has always been his desire to put customers right,” Roberts said, according to the newspaper.
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