Sam Bankman-Fried extradited to the United States

The US and Bahamian authorities are considering extraditing the founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange, Сем Бенкман-Фрід" href="https://noworries.media/biography/sem-benkman-frid/" data-bio-id="3697">Sam Bankman-Fried, from the Bahamas to the US. This was reported by Bloomberg journalists, citing informants close to the investigation of the FTX collapse.

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of Justice’s prosecutors have grounds to arrest Sam Bankman-Fried. However, representatives of the prosecutor’s office refused to comment on this issue.

Fortune journalists managed to talk to a lawyer who emphasized that the facts of law enforcement may seem irrefutable at first glance, but there are two potential obstacles to any criminal proceedings against the FTX CEO. The first is jurisdiction, as FTX is an offshore company headquartered in the Bahamas and did not serve Americans (FTX.US was a separate company), and the crypto exchange’s lawyers may argue that the actions of its executives are beyond the influence of US law enforcement agencies.

The second potential obstacle to criminal prosecution is intent. In particular, the lawyer emphasizes that any charges brought will directly depend on whether Sam Bankman-Fried was not just incompetent, but deliberately deceived investors. This is to be determined by the investigation.

Members of the cryptocurrency community suggest that the story of FTX may end faster than that of Terraform Labs, whose founder has long been wanted not only by Interpol but also by defrauded investors. For a long time, it was believed that До Квон" href="https://noworries.media/biography/do-kvon/" data-bio-id="3665">Do Kwon was hiding in Singapore, and at the end of October it was found that he had moved to Dubai (where Benkman-Fried also wanted to flee).

As for the FTX founder, his maximum sentence is 20 years, according to the anonymous lawyer, and the article under which Benkman-Fried could be charged includes fraud using electronic means of communication. If the Department of Justice files criminal charges, the agency will be forced to issue an arrest warrant for all FTX top executives involved in any illegal actions. This will lead to their location and potential extradition.