Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced Founder of the defunct FTX exchange who failed to appear in court on Tuesday for his bankruptcy proceedings has signed extradition papers and is ready to be moved and tried in the United States.
According to a report from ABC News, following the extradition of SBF, he will be flown to the United States to face charges over alleged misappropriation of investors’ funds and breaking of campaign laws. The report also states that the former CEO will be due in court on Wednesday and transferred from a prison in the Bahamas to New York, where he will face U.S. federal prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried who was previously denied bail by a magistrate court is currently being held in the medical ward of the Island’s Fox Hill prison in the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried’s counsel had proposed that the ex-CEO pay $250,000 in cash and be allowed to wear an ankle bracelet, but Chief Magistrate Judge Joyann Ferguson-Pratt denied this request.
According to a report from the New York Times, Bankman-Fried’s team of lawyers is currently negotiating to have him granted bail when he is moved to the United States.
Chronicles of the Embattled FTX Exchange
FTX is a digital asset exchange platform that was founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of Alameda Research. It is headquartered in the Bahamas and has offices in the United States.
FTX exchange started experiencing liquidity issues in 2022. The former CEO eventually filed for bankruptcy after failing to get capital to invest in the business to cushion the effects of its financial issues.
The bankrupt exchange was also reported to have requested a court’s approval to sell part of its business subsidiaries to recover funds to pay back its creditors. FTX stated that its subsidiaries are still liquid and possess independent management.
The report further highlighted the reasons why FTX needed to sell its subsidiary firms. One of the main points was that the FTX subsidiaries were exposed to regulatory pressures due to the abrupt collapse of the FTX exchange.
In an attempt to ensure that the bankrupt firm recovers from its present financial woes, the new CEO of the bankrupt exchange, John Jay Ray III stated that the firm may likely sell or reorganize the collapsed trading outfit.
