Things are accelerating for Samuel Bankman-Fried, who has arrived in the United States under guard.
The former boss of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange whose collapse is surely one of the biggest scandals of the crypto era, is set to make his first appearance in court on Thursday.
Samuel Bankman-Fried finally before American justice
We would have almost ended up believing that it would never happen. While the FTX bankruptcy scandal erupted on November 11, its founder Samuel Bankman-Fried, a fallen crypto guru, continued to live quietly in the Bahamas, from where he often gave quite mind-blowing interviews.
But the rest of the one who would have financially grounded nearly a million users was ultimately only short-lived. We thus learned a little over a week ago that he had been arrested by the Bahamas police. The authorities of the country had decided to act after the American justice served him the opening of a criminal file against him, soon followed by an extradition.
It is now done, since the one who was also known by the nickname of SBF had left the Bahamas on Tuesday evening in the custody of the FBI. Currently in prison, he is expected, according to Reuters, to make his first appearance in US court today, Thursday, December 22.
Two of his associates already apprehended by the courts
This preliminary hearing will allow Samuel Bankman-Fried to register a plea, while the judge will decide on a possible release on bail, and its possible amount.
The founder of FTX will have to organize his defense as the pressure has increased on his shoulders in recent days with the fraud indictment of two of his closest associates, Zixiao (Gary) Wang and Caroline Ellison. They have both already pleaded guilty, and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. They could thus incriminate their former boss.
The former billionaire wants, it seems, for his part to prove his “good faith”. He had thus explained in an affidavit read during a hearing in the Bahamas: want to compensate customers “. It remains to find people who could be convinced.
Source : Reuters
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