Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Fights Post Extradition Charges In Bahamas
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The former CEO of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, is taking action to see the charges that have been filed against him by US prosecutors dropped. US prosecutors filed several charges against Bankman-Fried following his extradition from the Bahamas.
Sam Bankman-Fried fights post-extradition charges
A report by Reuters said that Bankman-Fried was fighting the charges made by US prosecutors after he was extradited from the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers have urged the Bahamas Supreme Court to ensure that the Bahamas government does not allow the post-extradition charges.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers have revealed the plan to oppose these charges after filing court documents at a Manhattan federal court. The lawyers have also argued that the extra charges fail to meet the terms of the extradition treaty between the Bahamas and the United States.
The extradition treaty between the US and the Bahamas mandates that the country releasing a suspect grants its consent before additional charges can be imposed after the extradition is complete.
Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried towards the end of 2022. He was later extradited to the US, where criminal charges were filed against him. The US prosecutors initially charged him with eight counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
However, in recent months, US prosecutors have increased these charges to 13. Some of these new charges include conspiracy to commit bank fraud and violating the US anti-bribery provisions by bribing Chinese officials towards the end of 2021.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the lawyers representing Bankman-Fried have stated in the court filings that they planned to contest the additional charges at a Bahamian court. The lawyers have also said that they will only contest if the Bahamas government agrees to these charges.
The lawyers have also requested the US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to dismiss the charges or to have these charges tried separately during the trial slated to start on October 2, 2023.
The WSJ noted that the filing states, “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.”
US prosecutors stand by the charges
In early May, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had filed pre-trial motions to dismiss some of the charges filed against the FTX founder. These charges include the conspiracy to commit wire fraud on FTX customers and the lenders at Alameda Research.
While opposing these charges, the lawyers referred to “the rule of specialty, or in the alternative, for disclosure of additional discovery from the Government. US prosecutors reacted to the fling by defending the charges.
The prosecutors said that they had not violated any of the extradition terms with the Bahamas in terms of extra charges after the extradition.
The trial for Bankman-Fried is slated to commence on October 2, 2023. In January, he pled not guilty to all charges. However, if he is found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 115 years in prison.
