Mintz & Gold partner Ira Sorkin discusses whether accused fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried’s “open lips” will hurt his criminal case in The Claman Countdown.
Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly said he thought his time in prison in the Bahamas would be like the classic 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption.
“I thought it was going to be like The Shawshank Redemption,” the disgraced FTX Forbes founder and CEO told Forbes in an exclusive interview published Thursday.
The film, starring Morgan Freeman, was nominated for seven Oscars.
The former billionaire told the publication he was assigned a room with five other inmates in the facility’s infirmary to keep him away from the general population.
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED TWEET WHILE UNDER HOUSE ARREST
Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, arrives in court in New York on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Bankman-Fried painted a vivid picture of life at Fox Hill as he showered with a garden hose, dried himself with a three-by-five-inch towel and slept in “the worst bed imaginable, made of cardboard and one piece.” made of semi-soft plastic on stilts.”
Once the head of the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, he said he used his suit jacket, which he wore to court appearances, as a pillow.
The Bahamas Department of Corrections’ Fox Hill Prison where FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was held on December 20, 2022 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The 30-year-old befriended the other inmates and did not feel threatened, although some asked him for money.
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The worst thing, he told Forbes, was the lack of the internet.
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of District Court in Nassau, Bahamas on December 21, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“I didn’t realize how much more important to me than anything else the combined internet access was, but that was about 80% of the total costs in prison,” he said, noting that he was occasionally given access to a newspaper.
Bankman-Fried claimed he was limited to a 30-minute phone call throughout his stay, but was allowed to meet daily with his Bahamian lawyers.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried exits Manhattan Federal Court following his charges and bail hearing on December 22, 2022 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/Getty Images)
In December, he waived his right to fight extradition and agreed to return to the United States to face charges. He flew on a private FBI plane to a local police station in White Plains, New York, and his attorneys agreed to a $250 million bail agreement, partly funded by his parents’ $4 million California home was supported, where he is now locked in with an electronic ankle bracelet. He pleaded not guilty to a number of federal charges of allegedly defrauding customers and investors and entered his plea through his attorneys.
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Bankman-Fried’s trial is scheduled for October 2.
Fox Business’ Breck Dumas, Marta Dhanis and Portal contributed to this report.