Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to doze off in a courtroom in the Bahamas during a hearing Monday at which he agreed to extradition to the United States against the advice of his attorney.
Bankman-Fried, who is accused of defrauding FTX clients out of $8 billion, was reportedly spotted “leaning back with his eyes closed” only to be woken up by court officials.
The pressure of the case appeared to have taken a toll on the 30-year-old, who wore a navy blue jacket and open shirt to the court hearing.
Bankman-Fried decided to agree to extradition to the United States on fraud charges, a person familiar with the matter said Monday, just hours after the FTX founder’s attorney told a judge in the Bahamas he was not ready to agree .
The reversal paves the way for the 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul to face indictments in New York on charges of stealing billions from FTX customers to offset losses at Alameda Research, his hedge fund, before the exchange abruptly collapsed in November .
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (pictured) appeared to doze off during a hearing Monday in a Bahamas courtroom
The pressure of the case appeared to have taken a toll on the 30-year-old, who wore a navy blue jacket and open shirt to the court hearing
It was not immediately clear when Bankman-Fried would leave the Bahamas, where he was arrested on December 12 on a US extradition request. No further court date was set at the conclusion of Monday’s hearing.
His US-based defense attorney, Mark Cohen, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bankman-Fried’s abrupt decision came after a tumultuous appearance Monday morning before Judge Shaka Serville in a court in the capital, Nassau, after Portal and other media outlets reported over the weekend that he had decided to reverse his decision to contest the extradition.
At the hearing, his local criminal defense attorney, Jerone Roberts, initially told Serville that he didn’t know why Bankman-Fried was being tried Monday morning.
After a pause, the attorney said Bankman-Fried had seen an affidavit setting out the charges against him, but wanted to see the charges against him in federal court in New York last week before agreeing to extradition.
Serville said at the hearing that he could not do anything about Bankman-Fried’s extradition without the former billionaire’s consent.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was advised against agreeing to extradition to the US. Jerone Roberts (left), a local defender, was pursued out of court by a journalist
A fence topped with barbed wire surrounds the Magistrate Court Building, where the FTX founder appeared for an extradition hearing
Journalists followed Roberts (left), a local defense attorney for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, as he exited Magistrates Court in Nassau, Bahamas
“I can only be moved by Mr. Bankman-Fried, and he didn’t move me,” Serville said.
Bankman-Fried was given a chance to speak to his U.S. attorney over the phone and was then sent back to the Caribbean state’s Fox Hill prison. He exited the courthouse in a black van marked “Corrections” and carrying a Manila briefcase with papers, a Portal witness said.
Franklyn Williams — the Bahamas’ assistant director of legal affairs, who represents the United States in its bid to extradite Bankman-Fried — called the day’s proceedings “incredible” and appeared frustrated by the delay.
The 30-year-old crypto mogul boomed in the value of Bitcoin and other digital assets to become a multi-billionaire and an influential political financier in the United States until FTX collapsed after a wave of withdrawals in early November. The exchange filed for bankruptcy on November 11.
Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management failures at FTX but said he doesn’t believe he is criminally responsible.
Bankman-Fried was spotted by on the balcony of a $30 million penthouse in the Bahamas. He later said he doesn’t live there but stayed somewhere in the Bahamas
During Monday’s hearing, he spoke only to greet Serville and to confirm that he would speak to his US attorney.
On December 13, the day after his arrest, Bankman-Fried was transferred to a correctional facility in the Bahamas. A 2021 State Department report on the facility said detainees faced rodents and a shortage of toilets, although local authorities said conditions had since improved. At his December 13 hearing, he described the night of his arrest as “hectic.”
After Monday’s hearing, his Bahamas criminal attorney, Roberts, told the New York Times his client had agreed to voluntary extradition and he hoped Bankman-Fried would be back in court later this week.
“We as lawyers will prepare the necessary documents to start the court,” the newspaper quoted Roberts as saying. ‘Mr. Bankman-Fried wants to fix customers, and that’s what prompted his decision.”
Roberts could not be immediately reached for comment.
Krystal Rolle, an attorney who has represented Bankman-Fried on noncriminal matters in the Bahamas, also confirmed comments Roberts had previously made to local broadcaster Eyewitness News Bahamas that Bankman-Fried would voluntarily waive his right to an extradition hearing .
The crypto CEO whose restless FTX sparked market panic: a hoodie-wearing vegan who was once worth “$25 billion” and sleeps four hours a night
Sam Bankman Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried, a vegan who sleeps four hours a night, has become a public face of cryptocurrency with a personal fortune estimated at nearly $25 billion that has since dwindled to $100,000, according to Forbes magazine become.
FTX’s success has allowed the platform to forge prestigious partnerships, most notably with American football legend Tom Brady and former supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and comedian Larry David has been featured in a TV commercial for the Super Bowl.
Almost always appearing in a hoodie and dark t-shirt, Bankman-Fried has pledged to donate nearly his entire fortune to his favorite causes, such as animal welfare and the fight against global warming.
The son of Stanford Law School professors and a graduate of the elite Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he worked as a Wall Street broker before turning to cryptocurrencies in 2017.
Bankman-Fried moved the company to the Bahamas, which has virtually no taxes, saying the Caribbean nation is “one of the few countries that has a comprehensive cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency exchange licensing system.”
He has been a strong advocate for smoother access to the crypto market for the general public, particularly in the United States.