Former FTX CEO to be extradited to US

WASHINGTON

The founder and former CEO of crypto trading platform FTX, Samuel Bankman-Fried, is being extradited to the US to face fraud charges, authorities in the Bahamas confirmed Wednesday.

Leo Ryan Pinder, the attorney general of the Bahamas and minister of legal affairs, said Bankman-Fried would depart from the Bahamas for the US Wednesday night.

Several US media outlets reported that Bankman-Fried told a judge in the Bahamas that he agreed to be extradited, including CNN, which reported that he hopes to be extradited immediately, citing his lawyer.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the 30-year-old with defrauding investors.

Authorities in the Bahamas arrested Bankman-Fried last week at the request of the US.

The regulator said that FTX, which is based in the Bahamas, raised more than $1.8 billion from equity investors, including approximately $1.1 billion from 90 US-based investors, since at least May 2019.