Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Freed says he shouldn't go to jail

Sam Bankman-Freed has asked a Bahamas court to release him on bail because he "cannot be in jail because of being vegan and in need of medication." The authorities refused to release the American on bail.

CoinDesk and the Daily Mail reported that the SBF lawyer wasted no time in trying to get his client out on bail. However, the Bahamas court remains adamant and will not release the former FTX CEO from custody.

Jerome Roberts, Sam's lawyer, insisted on bail for the client under the pretext of needing regular medication and a vegan diet. According to him, SBF takes over-the-counter allergy pills every day. In addition, Sam uses patches for depression and the same drugs.

Roberts also requested that Sam be released, at least on the condition of limited movement. He suggested that the judges release Bankman-Freed under house arrest and put an electronic ankle bracelet on him so that he would not have to worry about escaping. The lawyer offered $250,000 as bail.

The judge in the Sam Bankman-Freed case in the Bahamas said she had sufficient experience to understand that even with bail posted, the defendant could escape. Despite the fact that the SBF's passport was taken away, the prosecutor's office believes that he will certainly make attempts to escape.

In this regard, the authorities refused the Jerome Roberts deal and did not let Sam Bankman-Freed out, despite his “important circumstances”. The judge also set a date for the next hearing in the SBF case and his arrest. Issues with extradition to the United States and what to do next with Sam Bankman-Freed will be decided at a hearing in February 2023.

Yesterday, an official accusation was made public, in which the US authorities connect the former head of FTX with a fraud that occurred in the American cryptocurrency exchange. According to their order, Sam Bankman-Freed implemented a pre-arranged plan for money laundering, campaign violations, fraud and other cases that violate the law.

Damian Williams, US Attorney stated the following:

A month ago, FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, collapsed, wiping out billions of dollars of customer value, and for every day of the past month, dedicated prosecutors from this office and our partners at the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have worked around the clock to find out what happened and start the process of seeking justice.

This morning, we released an eight-point indictment charging Samuel Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, with a series of intertwined fraud schemes that contributed to FTX's downfall.

Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis believes that the Bahamas and the United States will actively cooperate in the case with Bankman-Freed:

The Bahamas and the United States have a common interest in bringing to justice all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and violated the law.

After people began to doubt the financial stability of FTX, clients began to withdraw their funds en masse, however, the cryptocurrency exchange could not cope with such a flow and limited their withdrawal. This was followed by the fall of the native token due to the mass sale of FTT by Binance and the American exchange crashed.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission wants to bring the former head of FTX to justice for a misconduct. SBF fraudulently obtained billions of dollars from investors and misused client funds for its own needs, which violates US laws. According to the regulator, FTX, which was registered in the Bahamas, received at least $1,800,000,000 from investors, $1,100,000,000 of which came from US clients.