BREAKING NEWS: Sam Bankman-Fried WON'T contest extradition to US

2022-12-17

Sam Bankman-Fried WON’T contest extradition to US on $1.8bn FTX crypto fraud charges, as prosecutors probe firm’s political donations

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX cryptocurrency firm, has abandoned his plan to contest his extradition from the Bahamas to the US, it has emerged
The 30-year-old was charged with fraud by prosecutors in Manhattan on December 13, and arrested in the Bahamas, where he lives
He will appear in court in the Bahamas on Monday to announce that he is no longer contesting his extradition, Reuters reported
Meanwhile focus is turning to others involved, with interest in Ryan Salame, co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, the company’s subsidiary in the Bahamas
Bankman-Fried was a massive Democrat donor but Salame, 29, is a committed Republican
Salame gave $24 million during the midterms to Republican candidates and committees, while Bankman-Fried gave about $40 million to Democrats
Salame split his time between the Bahamas and Washington, where he lived with his girlfriend, Michelle Bond, a cryptocurrency lobbyist

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has backtracked on his decision to challenge his extradition from the Bahamas to the United States to face fraud charges, and will appear in court in the Bahamas on Monday to announce his decision, according to a report.

The cryptocurrency mogul was indicted in federal court in Manhattan on December 13 and accused of engaging in a scheme to defraud FTX customers.

His decision to consent to extradition would pave the way for him to appear in U.S. court to face charges of using stolen customer deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments on behalf of his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC.

Prosecutors investigating Bankman-Fried’s alleged cryptocurrency fraud are also looking into who else knew of the scheme – pushing his business associate and right-wing reflection into the spotlight.

They are also asking Democrats and Republicans to provide details of the donations received by Bankman-Fried, 30, a Democrat mega-donor, and his associates.

Ryan Salame, 29, was co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, the company’s subsidiary in the Bahamas, and was fast emerging as a serious figure in Republican donor circles.

Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, is seen in the Bahamas on December 13. On Saturday it emerged he will not contest his extradition to the US on fraud charges

Bankman-Fried is the only FTX official to face charges so far, but prosecutors are looking into his associates and colleagues

Salame split his time between the Bahamas, where Bankman-Fried’s FTX was based, and Washington DC, where he lived with his cryptocurrency lobbyist girlfriend, Michelle Bond.

And while Bankman-Fried gave $40 million to Democrat campaigns in the midterms, Salame was backing the opposite site, with $24 million given to Republicans.

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that prosecutors with the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York have been emailing political operatives requesting details of donations.

Both Republicans and Democrats have been contacted, the paper reported.

Some politicians, including Hakeem Jeffries, the New York congressman who is set to become the Democrat leader of the House, and Representative-elect Aaron Bean, a Republican from Florida, have either returned donations linked to FTX or gave the money to charity after the company became embroiled in scandal.

Other groups say they are setting the cash aside for possible restitution to victims of the alleged scheme.

Ryan Salame, co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, as seen in his Twitter profile picture

Salame and his girlfriend, cryptocurrency lobbyist and one-time Republican congressional candidate Michelle Bond

Salame and Bond were seen as a rising force in Republican politics, but with the collapse of FTX their future looks less secure

$46.5 million in Sam Bankman-Fried donations to political groups: Where are they now for 10 candidates

$27 million – Protect Our Future – Sam Bankman-Fried’s personal PAC that worked to elect congressional Democrats (mostly spent)

$5.2 million – 2020 Biden campaign (unknown status)

$1 million – Beto O’Rourke (returned)

$11,600 – Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. (donated)

$5,800 – Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (donated)

$5,800 – Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, (turned over to Treasury)

$5,800 – Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. (donated)

$5,800 – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine (donated)

$5,700 – Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., (donated)

$5,800 – Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. (donated)

Salame and his girlfriend were seen as rising stars of the Republican donor party – indeed, Bond ran unsuccessfully for congress in Long Island, in a campaign backed by Donald Trump Jr.

The couple have recently bought a $4 million house in Potomac, Maryland, and paid in cash, according to The New York Times.

Salame has also been investing in several restaurants in his home state of Massachusetts.

Born in Sandisfield, a town of just 1,000 people in the Berkshires, he worked briefly at the accounting giant EY and graduated from Georgetown University in 2019 with a master’s in finance.

He went to work for Alameda, the FTX sister company, in Hong Kong, before moving to work for FTX in the Bahamas.

Salame was a primary point of contact between the exchange and the local government, according to the paper, and became a whistleblower.

Bankman-Fried amassed a fortune valued at over $20 billion as he rode a cryptocurrency boom to build FTX into one of the world’s largest exchanges before it abruptly collapsed this year.

Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, described the collapse of FTX as one of the ‘biggest financial frauds in American history.’

Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management failures at FTX but has said he did not believe he had any criminal liability.

It was not immediately clear what prompted Bankman-Fried to change his mind and decide not to contest extradition.

The U.S. State Department in a 2021 report said conditions at his Bahamas jail, Fox Hill, were ‘harsh,’ citing overcrowding, rodent infestation and prisoners relying on buckets as toilets. Authorities there say conditions have since improved.

Bankman-Fried faces up to 115 years in prison if ultimately convicted of all eight counts he faces in the United States, though any sentence would ultimately be determined by a judge based on a range of factors.

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