Fallen crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried was on his way back to jail in the Bahamas on Monday after appearing baffled and inconclusive in court over his reported extradition request to the United States.
The co-founder of the collapsed currency exchange FTX – which was bombed overnight in the amount of $32 billion – had nervously pushed four of the imposing judges’ buildings for a court hearing to clear his way to America.
Both the court quickly descended into farce as prosecutors, his local defense attorney and even the presiding judge questioned why they were all there.
The mop-haired mogul, who sat in the front row with his head bowed and feverishly tapping his right foot in his trademark manner, listened as his attorney Jerone Roberts told the court, “I’m not sure what Mr. Bankman Fried is doing here this morning.’
But after SBF was taken back to jail, Roberts reportedly said his client agreed to extradition.
Roberts told local media outlet Eyewitness News that his legal team was preparing the legal documents – adding he hopes SBF will go back to court this week.
Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, appeared in court for an extradition hearing on Monday
Prosecutors, his local defense attorney and even the presiding judge asked why they were all there
After SBF was returned to the rat-infested island jail, his local attorney reportedly said his client had agreed to extradition
SBF shuffled into the courtroom in a blue suit, nervously clenching his hands
Magistrate Shakaa Serbille said: “I was expecting to see Mr. Bankman-Fried here on February 8” – referring to when the accused guru is expected back in court after being denied bail and he was taken to Nassau’s notorious Fox Hill prison.
However, he added that he understands that SBF, as he likes to be called, has been involved in extradition efforts but “more information” is needed, and then there should be instructions from Bankman-Fried himself.
Roberts later told the court that SBF would like to see the details of all extradition records before agreeing to do so.
Prosecutor Franklyn Williams KC gave a hint of the confusion when he said: “A statement was made to us on Saturday by our attorney, not the attorney at court, on behalf of Sam Bankman-Fried.”
It is believed this could have come from SBF’s high-profile legal team in New York, led by attorney Mark Cohen.
After more legal wrangling and a pause, the judge decided to adjourn the hearing and allow Bankman-Fried to speak with his New York attorneys to resolve misunderstandings.
He decided the call should be made under tightly controlled conditions, including speakerphone.
When he was formally remanded in custody again, Bankman-Fried was ordered to stand. At one point, however, he cowered and a court official shouted at him to stand up straight and put his arms by his side.
The disgraced former prodigy – who had since shed his jacket in the stuffy court – followed shortly afterwards. But then he sagged again, nervously flexing his hands. He answered “yes” four times as the judges explained what was going on.
The usually disheveled financial guru wore the same blue suit and white shirt he made on his first court appearance last week following his dramatic arrest.
SBF was constantly tapping his right foot nervously before Magistrate Shakaa Serbille arrived.
He also clenched and unclenched his hands nervously while still tapping his right foot – which is reportedly a trademark of his.
Protesters gather outside court including Ben Armstrong – who calls himself Bitboy on social media and is a major player in the currency. “I want to look him in the eye. I want to look him in the face. I want him to go to jail for a very long time,” Armstrong told
A fence topped with barbed wire surrounds the Magistrate Court Building, where the FTX founder appeared for an extradition hearing
Angry major crypto influencers rallied outside the courtroom on Monday morning, demanding he stay to face the music in the capital, Nassau.
Ben Armstrong – who calls himself Bitboy on social media and is a major player in currency – told : “We’re here to represent the people in crypto, to thank Sam for what he’s done to be held accountable.
“It’s not just what he’s done to individual investors, but also to crypto projects — the predatory business practices FTX uses quite often destroy crypto projects.
“We’re also here on behalf of all the companies that they invested in and signed up for, who didn’t know what antics they were up to.
“I want to look him in the eye. I want to look him in the face. I want him to go to prison for a very long time.’
Atlanta-based Armstrong is with a group of five angry crypto community members who have been working on projects involving Bankman-Freed’s $32 billion imploded currency exchange FTX.
They have attracted investors to the Bahamas and are demanding that the shaggy mogul not be extradited to the United States.
Armstrong said, “I want him to suffer in this prison in the Bahamas, suffer these conditions. Once he gets to the US, he’s just another white-collar criminal in a Club Fed.”
The co-founder of the collapsed currency exchange FTX has spent six nights in Fox Hill jail.
A US government plane is reportedly on standby to ferry the disgraced financier to New York if and when a plan is confirmed
Fox Hill Prison where Bankman-Fried is imprisoned. A prison official said the cells are “about 8 feet by 10 feet.” Some have sanitary facilities, but many don’t.
A US government plane is reportedly on standby to take him to New York if and when a plan is confirmed.
The 30-year-old Bankman-Fried – whose $16 billion personal fortune vanished in FTX’s catastrophic $32 billion overnight crash – would likely be held in the tough Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
It’s also where pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s wife, Ghislaine Maxwell, was jailed for two years before being sentenced to 20 years for grooming minors for sexual abuse.
It is also understood that the crypto prodigy-turned-pariah would appear in a Manhattan court within 48 hours of arriving in the United States, where the prospect of bail could be discussed. Prosecutors are expected to fight any attempt at freedom.
Bankman-Fried’s abrupt reversal comes after he initially refused to waive his extradition rights when he first appeared in court on December 13, after being dramatically arrested in his $40 million penthouse the night before had been arrested.
The mop-haired mogul had asked for $250,000 bail and house arrest at that marathon hearing, saying he was a depressed vegan.
Justin Paperny of White Collar Advice, a prison advisory firm that advises defendants on how to get through their incarceration, said: “Bankman-Fried will ask to return to America after his time in the Bahamian prison.
“The MDC in Brooklyn will be immeasurably better than what he is enduring now. Ghislaine Maxwell didn’t like it but the majority of inmates are fine there.
“My advice to him is not to complain to other inmates about his situation and to be careful what he says to people as others could leak information to the US government.
“He should avoid bragging about his friendships with people like Tom Brady, as other inmates will see him as a poser and assume he still has money and can be exploited.”