Sam Amico
The Justice Department has agreed to drop charges against disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried as part of an extradition agreement between the U.S. and Bahamas, per multiple reports.
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Bankman-Fried was originally indicted on eight charges related to illegal campaign finance activity in December. He has as personally given millions to Democratic politicians, including the 2020 campaign for President Joe Biden.
The FTX founder will still be charged with seven counts in relation to wire and securities fraud, as well as money laundering.
“The Government has been informed that The Bahamas notified the United States earlier today that The Bahamas did not intend to extradite the defendant on the campaign contributions count,” the DOJ letter stated, via Breitbart. “Accordingly, in keeping with its treaty obligations to The Bahamas, the Government does not intend to proceed to trial on the campaign contributions count.”
Federal prosecutors and attorney for Bankman-Fried must now determine the terms of his bail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon asked Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to remand the defendant into custody — although Kaplan indicated that will be determined later.
For now, Bankman-Fried is under a gag order not to speak about the case. That’s something he has done extensively in recent months.
“I am certainly very mindful of his First Amendment rights, and I am very mindful of the government’s interest here, which I take very seriously,” Kaplan said. “And I say to the defendant, Mr. Bankman-Fried: You better take it seriously, too.”
