FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Battles US Post-Extradition Charges in Bahamas

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has made a move to have the charges that were slapped on him by the US prosecutors dismissed after his extradition from the Bahamas, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The former crypto billionaire’s lawyers have asked the Bahamas Supreme Court to stop the island’s country’s government from consenting to the post-extradition charges.

Bankman-Fried Moves against US Charges

According to the wire agency, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers disclosed the move in documents filed before a federal court in Manhattan, United States, on Monday evening. The lawyers are arguing that the extra charges contravene the terms of the extradition agreement between the Bahamas and the United States. The extradition treaty between both countries requires the country releasing a defendant to give its consent before additional charges can be initiated after the extradition.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas in late 2022 over the collapse of FTX after criminal charges were filed against him in the United States. He was later extradited to the US where he was initially charged with eight counts, including conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations.

However, prosecutors have since expanded the charges to 13, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and violate the anti-bribery provisions of the United States by bribing Chinese officials in late 2021. However, Bankman-Fried lawyers in the new court filings said they intend to contest the extra charges in the Bahamas court should the island country’s government consent to the charges, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

In addition, the lawyers asked US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to throw out the changes or try them separately from the trial scheduled for October 2, 2023.

“Mr Bankman-Fried will suffer if required to prepare for a trial that is less than four months away without knowing whether he will be tried on nearly half of the counts,” the lawyers said in the filing, as quoted by WSJ.

In May, the US Justice Department said it would drop some of the charges against Bankman-Fried if the Bahamas does not consent to them. However, the prosecutors last month slammed pre-trial motions filed by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to dismiss a number of the 13 charges against him.

FTX crumbled in November last year after a liquidation crisis, costing billions of dollars in losses to investors.

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