FTX Crypto Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Agrees To US Extradition

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has now decided to agree to be extradited to the United States to face fraud charges, two of his lawyers said on Monday, just hours after one of them told a Bahamas judge the FTX founder wanted to see the US indictment against him before consenting.

On Monday afternoon, Jerone Roberts, Bankman-Fried’s criminal defense lawyer in the Bahamas, told media outlets including the New York Times that his client had agreed to be voluntarily extradited and that he hoped Bankman-Fried would be back in court later this week.

“We as counsel will prepare the necessary documents to trigger the court,” the Times quoted Roberts as saying. “Mr Bankman-Fried wishes to put the customers right and that is what has driven his decision.”

Roberts could not immediately be reached for comment.

Krystal Rolle, a lawyer who has represented Bankman-Fried on other matters in the Bahamas, told Reuters Bankman-Fried had decided to consent to be extradited to the United States.

Earlier in the day, Roberts said during a court hearing in Nassau that his client had seen an affidavit laying out the charges against him over FTX’s dramatic collapse, but had not yet read the indictment filed last week in Manhattan federal court.

After the hearing, Bankman-Fried was remanded back to the custody of the Bahamas’ department of corrections. He departed the courthouse in a black van marked “Corrections,” carrying a manila folder containing papers, a Reuters witness said.