A plane carrying Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, has arrived in the United States from the Bahamas, where he is facing fraud charges related to the collapse of the crypto exchange, which wiped out billions in valuations.
Wednesday Extradition to the U.S
The Bahamas Attorney General’s Office previously stated that Bankman-Fried was scheduled for extradition on Wednesday after waiving his legal right to challenge the move. On Thursday, he will be presented before a New York court judge.
In a statement, Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said that the Bahamas had determined that (Bankman- Fried’s) provisional arrest and subsequent written consent to be extradited without formal extradition proceedings met the requirements of the extradition treaty between the United States and the Bahamas and their nation’s Extradition Act.
According to reports, he boarded the plane to the United States at a private airfield near Nassau’s main airport, arriving in a dark SUV.
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced that two of Bankman-Fried’s closest former associates had pleaded guilty to defrauding investors on the cryptocurrency trading platform.
Two SBF Associates Plead Guilty
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of FTX’s sister company Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, are now cooperating with the government, significantly increasing pressure on the former billionaire.
In a video posted on Twitter, Williams also urged others involved in the alleged fraud to come forward, saying that if they participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now was the time to get ahead of it.
FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, filed for bankruptcy on November 11 in one of the most high-profile crypto meltdowns after traders withdrew $6 billion (€5.7 billion) from the platform in three days.
On December 13, federal prosecutors in the United States indicted him on eight counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and violation of election finance laws. They accused the 30-year-old of defrauding FTX investors and misusing funds belonging to FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research.
Authorities in the Bahamas arrested him on the same day and later denied bail due to his flight risk. Separately, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged him with violating securities laws.
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