Cryptocurrency exchange founder and former chief Sam Bankman-Fried plans to agree to his extradition at a hearing in Nassau, Bahamas on Wednesday and could fly to the United States soon after, a source close to the file told AFP on Tuesday.
• Also read: Sam Bankman-Fried, the ex-boss of FTX, is accused of fraud by the American judiciary
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At the hearing, the 30-year-old former leader, who was charged by Manhattan prosecutors with fraud and embezzlement, was scheduled to present a document to the Nassau judge on the case saying he waived a challenge to his extradition, he said the same source .
Once the decision is approved by the magistrate, Sam Bankman-Fried could be extradited Wednesday and flown to New York, where he will appear before another federal court judge in Manhattan.
Once the New York City Magistrate has served him with the charges against him, the former darling of the cryptocurrency world should be remanded in New York.
Arrested in Nassau on December 12, Sam Bankman-Fried is already in custody in the Bahamas.
Sam Bankman-Fried is accused of using funds deposited by customers of the FTX platform to conduct risky transactions through another company he controls, Alameda Research, without their knowledge.
He is also suspected of investing some of that money in real estate in the Bahamas and using another part to donate to Democratic politicians, most notably Joe Biden, during his presidential campaign.
Five of the eight charges against him each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Therefore, whoever has long been considered the iconoclastic genius of cryptocurrencies is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.
It is the subject of separate civil lawsuits by the US Financial Markets Supervisory Authority SEC and the CFTC.