A Bahamian judge has denied bail to Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency and other crypto assets trading platform FTX, arrested on Tuesday in the country following a «notice» from the United States and in view of his possible extradition.
Judge Joyann Ferguson-Pratt has indicated after a hearing that lasted several hours that there is a high risk of flight that prevents Bankman-Fried from benefiting from a release on bail, as reported by ‘The Nassau Guardian’.
Thus, he has ordered him to remain in custody until February 8 after his arrest at his residence in Albany, Nassau. Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said on Tuesday that «the moment a formal request for extradition is made, the Bahamas plans to process it quickly».
U.S. authorities have charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts, including conspiracy to embezzle client funds, while Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has accused Bankman-Fried of «building a house of cards with pillars of lies,» as reported by U.S. television network CNN.
FTX announced in mid-November that it had decided to file for Chapter 11 protection under the US Bankruptcy Act in order to carry out the process of evaluation and liquidation of assets in an orderly manner for the benefit of the interested parties. He explained that the FTX Group process includes FTX US, as well as the trading firm Alameda Research and a total of 130 affiliated entities.
FTX’s solvency had been called into question after its rival Binance decided to back out of its intention to come to the platform’s rescue, after having carried out due diligence and in the face of the opening of investigations by government agencies in the United States.
Earlier, at a conference with investors, Bankman-Fried, still CEO of FTX, had put the platform’s hole at around $8 billion (a similar figure in euros), including the need for around $4 billion for the firm to maintain its solvency.
