Sam Bankman-Fried to spend Christmas and New Year in jail pending extradition

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of bankrupt FTX Derivatives Exchange, has been denied bail by a Bahamian magistrate. As Reuters reports, SBF has been taken into custody by the Bahamas Department of Corrections and as it stands will spend the Christmas and New Year in jail.

Sam Bankman-Fried appeared in court in a blue suit with no tie, and hugged his parents before being led out of court in handcuffs. The presiding judge said that SBF’s flight risk was too “large“and he will be remanded to the Bahamas Correctional Center until February 8.

When FTX imploded early last month, SBF was enjoying a lot of freedom with appearances in interviews and constant tweets. This facade angered crypto investors, most of whom had lost money on the trading platform. The fact that SBF was walking around free gave the impression that he was above the law according to conversations on crypto Twitter and this removal order appears to be the biggest relief since FTX filed for bankruptcy.

While still CEO of the beleaguered exchange platform, Sam Bankman-Fried embezzled billions of dollars in user funds, including a $4 billion transfer made from FTX to Alameda Research, the exchange’s associated exchange company.

SBF’s woes didn’t start in the Bahamas, nor will they end there. Specifically, the transfer of funds from FTX to Alameda Research has resulted in an indictment by U.S. prosecutors, who claim that the once-proclaimed white knight of crypto conspired to defraud the exchange’s customers.

In addition to the charges SBF is facing in the Bahamas, he is also wanted in the United States by the Department of Justice (DoJ) as well as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Will Sam Bankman-Fried end up in jail?

This is one of the most asked questions in the crypto sphere today, and the likelihood of Sam Bankman-Fried serving time in the Bahamas or the United States is increasing by the day.

U.S. prosecutors are specifically targeting SBF for atrocities related to his attempt to hide the proceeds of his winnings from wire fraud. With U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in New York saying that investigations into SBF’s criminal practices are ongoing, there is a good chance that the former crypto-currency billionaire will be sentenced to 118 years in prison if convicted on all eight counts brought against him by U.S. prosecutors.

While FTX’s creditors still don’t know how all these legal complications will help them get their funds back from the crypto-currency exchange, it’s clear that prosecutors aren’t letting the fraud committed slide without someone answering for it.

Many crypto-currency platforms in their prime have gone bankrupt this year, including Celsius Network, Voyager Digital and BlockFi. FTX’s implosion was the most shocking, as the exchange had shown good health with its failed bailouts of other struggling companies throughout the summer.