Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has withdrawn his decision to contest his extradition from the Bahamas to the United States to face fraud charges and will appear in a Bahamian court on Monday to announce the decision si, according to a report.
The cryptocurrency mogul was indicted in Manhattan federal court on Dec. 13 and charged with participating in a scheme to defraud FTX customers.
His decision to agree to extradition will pave the way for his appearance in a US court to face charges of using stolen client deposits to pay expenses and debts and to make investments on behalf of his crypto hedge fund Alameda Research LLC.
Prosecutors investigating Bankman-Fried’s alleged cryptocurrency scam are also looking to see who else knew about the scheme — thrusting his business partner and right-hand man into the spotlight.
They are also asking Democrats and Republicans to provide details of donations received by Bankman-Fried, 30, a mega-donor to Democrats, and his associates.
Ryan Salame, 29, was co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the company’s Bahamas subsidiary, and was quickly emerging as a major figure in Republican donor circles.
Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, was seen in the Bahamas on December 13. It was revealed on Saturday that he would not contest his extradition to the US on fraud charges
Bankman-Fried is the only FTX employee charged so far, but prosecutors are investigating his associates and colleagues
Salame splits his time between the Bahamas, where Bankman-Fried’s FTX is based, and Washington, D.C., where he lives with his girlfriend, cryptocurrency lobbyist Michelle Bond.
And while Bankman-Fried gave $40 million to Democratic campaigns in the midterms, Salameh supported the opposite side, with $24 million going to Republicans.
On Saturday, The New York Times reported that prosecutors from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York sent an email to political operatives requesting details of donations.
Both Republicans and Democrats have been contacted, the publication reports.
Some politicians, including Hakeem Jeffries, the New York congressman set to become House Democratic leader, and Rep.-elect Aaron Bean, R-Florida, either returned FTX-related donations or gave the money to charity after the company folded. got involved in a scandal.
Other groups say they are setting the money aside for eventual restitution to victims of the alleged scheme.
Ryan Salame, Co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, as seen in his Twitter profile picture
Salameh and his girlfriend, cryptocurrency lobbyist and one-time Republican congressional candidate Michelle Bond
Salameh and Bond were considered a rising force in Republican politics, but with the collapse of FTX, their futures look less certain
Sam Bankman-Fried’s $46.5 Million in Donations to Political Groups: Where Are They Now for 10 Candidates
$27 million – Protect Our Future – Sam Bankman-Fried’s personal PAC working to elect Democrats to Congress (mostly spent)
$5.2 million – 2020 Biden campaign (status unknown)
$1 million – Beto O’Rourke (returned)
$11,600 – Senator John Hooven, RN.D. (donated)
$5,800 – Representative Hakeem Jeffries (donated)
$5,800 – Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, (given to the Treasury Department)
$5,800 – Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. (donated)
$5,800 – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine (donated)
$5,700 – Sen. Corey Booker, DN.J., (donated)
$5,800 – Rep. Josh Gottheimer, DN.J. (donated)
Salameh and his girlfriend were considered rising stars of the Republican Party—indeed, Bond ran unsuccessfully for Congress on Long Island in a campaign backed by Donald Trump Jr.
The couple recently bought a $4 million house in Potomac, Maryland, and paid cash, according to The New York Times.
Salame also invested 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 accounting giant EY and graduated from Georgetown University in 2019 with a master’s degree in finance.
He went to work for Alameda, FTX’s subsidiary, in Hong Kong before moving to work for FTX in the Bahamas.
Salameh was the main point of contact between the exchange and the local government, according to the paper, and became a whistleblower.
Bankman-Fried amassed a fortune estimated at more than $20 billion while riding the cryptocurrency boom to build FTX into one of the world’s largest exchanges before suddenly collapsing this year.
Damien Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, described the collapse of FTX as one of the “biggest financial frauds in American history.”
Bankman-Fried admitted mistakes in risk management at FTX, but said he did not believe he was criminally liable.
It was not clear what caused Bankman-Fried to change her mind and decide not to contest extradition.
The US State Department in a 2021 report said conditions at its prison in the Bahamas, Fox Hill, were “harsh”, citing overcrowding, a rodent infestation and inmates relying on buckets as toilets. Authorities there say conditions have improved since then.
Bankman-Fried faces up to 115 years in prison if ultimately convicted of all eight charges he faces in the United States, although any sentence will ultimately be determined by a judge based on a number of factors.
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