Sam Bankman-Fried Appears to Fall Asleep During Court Hearing, Doesn’t Agree to Extradition
Circle Squared Alternative Investments’ Jeff Sica argues Bitcoin is the ‘cat with nine lives’ as he discusses the future of cryptocurrencies following the collapse of FTX.
Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to doze off during a hearing in the Bahamas in which he did not agree to being extradited to the U.S.
Bankman-Fried had previously been expected to accept an extradition agreement on Monday. The former billionaire is on trial for multiple charges of fraud related to his handling of the FTX cryptocurrency trading market.
Bankman-Fried spoke to the judge, Magistrate Shaka Serville, only twice during the hearing, first to greet him and again to confirm he wanted to speak with his U.S. counsel, Reuters reported Monday.
Reports say that at one point in the hearing, Bankman-Fried leaned back in his chair and had his eyes closed for an extended period. One of the court officials appeared to jostle him awake.
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED, FTX FOUNDER, CHARGED WITH FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING
A defense lawyer for Bankman-Fried told the court that his client was holding off on agreeing to extradition until he had seen the indictment facing him in the U.S.
The founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas, Dec. 19, 2022. (Reuters/Marco Bello / Reuters Photos)
Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas, Dec. 19, 2022. (Reuters/Dante Carrer / Reuters Photos)
In total, Bankman-Fried faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers; committing wire fraud on customers; conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders; committing wire fraud on lenders; conspiracy to commit commodities fraud; conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and violate campaign finance laws.
FTX collapsed last month in what was essentially a bank run, with crypto investors all seeking to withdraw their funds at once. In the process it was revealed that FTX had lost tens of billions of dollars. Bankman-Fried resigned amid the chaos.
Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas Dec. 19, 2022. (Reuters/Dante Carrer) (Reuters Photos)
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Following the two-hour hearing, Bankman-Fried was given back to prison custody, leaving the court building in a black van marked “corrections.”
File video from 2022 shows squalid condition as Nassau, Bahamas’ correctional facility known as Fox Hill Prison. (Nassau Guardian via Reuters)
Reuters contributed to this report.
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