Bankman-Fried ‘Wants To See US Indictment’ Before Agreeing To Extradition: Lawyer

Update (1250ET): Bankman-Fried reportedly wants to see the indictment against him before agreeing to extradition to the United States, according to Reuters, citing a statement made by SBF’s attorney to a court in the Bahamas on Monday.

As Cointelegraph notes, Some members of the crypto space, including the team behind YouTuber Ben Armstrong, also known as Bitboy Crypto, reported on Twitter they appeared in person at the hearing to “look SBF in the eyes.”

We ready. About to go in. Guess who is in front of the line? Finally getting to look @SBF_FTX in the eyes this morning. pic.twitter.com/TtdYXZiUnD

— Ben Armstrong (@Bitboy_Crypto) December 19, 2022

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It appears crypto-criminal Sam Bankman-Fried would rather take his chances in the relative ‘luxury’ of an American jail than face another night in Bahamian’s corrections department, as he is expected to accept extradition as soon as this morning.

After being arrested and denied bail by a Bahamas court, the 30-year-old has been held at Fox Hill Prison in Nassau.

The facility has been criticized in international reports for overcrowding and lacking sanitation.

Reports indicate that he shares a cell with five other individuals.

The NY Times reports one former Fox Hill inmate Sean Hall, who was freed from jail last year, said:

“It’s no living situation for no type of living being.”

According to Hall, the width of his cell was less than the span of his stretched arms, and they slept on bare metal bunk beds infested with insects.

Another source acquainted with the situation told the Wall Street Journal that Sam Bankman-Fried’s team had provided meals that matched his dietary requirements, but they were uncertain as of Friday if he had received them.

According to people familiar with the matter, Sam Bankman-Fried is due in a Bahamian court on Monday where he is expected to agree to be extradited to the US to face charges of fraud.

Extradition will pave the way for a protracted legal showdown in the U.S. On Tuesday, the Southern District of New York of the Justice Department unsealed a 13-page criminal indictment.

Bitcoinist reports, that, according to defense attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, Bankman-Fried would likely be detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn upon arriving in the U.S., although some defendants are being kept at jails just outside of New York City owing to congestion at the facility.