Life was so much better for Sam Bankman-Fried when he was the frizzy-haired, oddball golden boy that the financial media swooned over. He was called a “genius.” “Boy Wonder.” “Successful.” That sounds much better than a “fraudster facing up to 115 years in federal prison.”
He continues to make news, and the latest headline is that he has reportedly consented to be extradited to the United States. He could make an appearance in a Bahamian courtroom today on that matter.
Now here’s the deal, once again, SBF is ignoring his lawyers and all semblance of common sense by doing this. Maybe it’s the rat and maggot-infested jail he’s being held in the Bahamas? Perhaps he just wants to be on tv doing a perp walk in New York City.
Who knows. According to the New York Times, his lead attorney in the Bahamas said SBF went against the “strongest possible legal advice” when he agreed to the extradition.
Here’s part of what his attorney told the Times.
“We as counsel will prepare the necessary documents to trigger the court. Mr. Bankman-Fried wishes to put the customers right, and that is what has driven his decision.”
It seems like a noble move, but let’s assume he’s got something a little more self-serving in mind unless he buried $30-plus billion somewhere in the US.
When he hits American soil, he’ll be facing conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations. It says all of that in a Department of Justice press release.
FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.
Maybe the headline-loving Bankman-Fried figures he can make himself more available to do television and media interviews if he’s in an American prison.
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