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Disgraced FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried who moved his multi-million dollar crypto empire to the Bahamas in 2021, is on a third night at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after he violated his bail order.

The 31-year-old who adopted the Bahamas as his home, courting government officials before his empire imploded and was extradited to face fraud charges in the United States, tampered with witnesses ahead of his October trial according to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

“My conclusion is there is probable cause to believe the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses on at least two… there is a rebuttable presumption that there is no set of conditions that will ensure Bankman-Fried will not be a danger.

“He has gone up to the line over and over again, and I am going to revoke bail,” Judge Kaplan said on Friday.

Since his extradition, Bankman-Fried was on bail and confined to his parent’s $4 million Palo Alto home.

What happened?

Prosecutors said, Bankman-Fried reached out to former FTX.US General Counsel Ryne Miller and used a virtual private network to watch the Super Bowl. Also, he shared part of his associate’s Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s private diary with the New York Times in an attempt to intimate her since she is a major witness for the prosecution in the case.

While on bail, prosecutors said he’s had conversations with author Michael Lewis, who is writing a book about FTX that is set for publication the week the trial begins.

After the judge’s order, Bankman-Fried was instructed to remove his navy suit jacket as two US marshalls prepared to handcuff him. His mother, Barbara Fried, attempted to approach him but was warned to stand back by a court officer and was expected to be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

The big story

After moving his exchange from Hong Kong to the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried flooded the Bahamas with money and donations. A little more than one year later, the millions of dollars disappeared from his exchange and it collapsed. He filed for bankruptcy.

Bankman-Fried’s trial is set for October as he faces charges of wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and related conspiracy charges.

The industry titan courted by politicians and celebrities is now a criminal defendant facing years in prison.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said in court, he was protecting his reputation and intended to appeal.

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried could face an additional 40 years in a US prison after prosecutors hit him with four more charges in documents unsealed on Thursday.

The additonal charges include conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business and demands for the forfeiture of assets which include assets held in Binance accounts, $170 million in cash held at Silvergate Bank and more than 55 million shares held in a commission free investing app Robinhood Markets.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, said in new statements since the new indictments, “We are hard at work and will remain so until justice is done.”

The indictments also claim that Bankman-Fried, and his co-conspirators–Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison– “made over 300 political contributions, totaling tens of millions of dollars, that were unlawful because they were made in the name of a straw donor or paid for with corporate funds.”

“To avoid certain contributions being publicly reported in his name, Bankman-Fried conspired to and did have certain political contributions made in the names of two other FTX executives,” the new filing claims.

Other claims in documents stated that Bankman-Fried created a bogus company called North Dimension, “which had no employees or business operations,” to open a bank account for trading purposes after rejections from another bank. He also created a website for the fake company using monies from his credit card, prosecutors say.

Since being extradicted to the US from the Bahamas where FTX was headquartered, Bankman-Fried remains under house arrest at his parents’ home in California. He has pleaded not guilty to the eight previous charges against him.

Photo credit: Reuters

Former crypto-darling and billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried left the Bahamas on Wednesday around 8 pm, bound for the United States to face fraud charges in a New York court.

The extradition was the conclusion of his stay in the Bahamas since establishing his multibillion-dollar crypto headquarters in the Bahamas. And it marks the end of a tumultuous week since his arrest last Monday.

He intended to fight the extradition but eventually reversed the decision which landed him at Odyssey Aviation where he was carried by US Marshalls to New York, where he is detained.

He is represented by high-profile lawyer Mark Cohen who could apply for bail. It remains to be seen if it will be granted.

Bankman-Fried’s handover at Odyssey Aviation, Bahamas

Bankman-Fried’s arrival in New York, USA

Photo credit: The Royal Bahamas Police Force and Fox News

US Securities and Exchange Commission charged FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors of billions of dollars.

The US SEC filed a complaint on Tuesday alleging that the failed billionaire promoted FTX as a safe and responsible platform while raising more than $1.8 billion through FTX, but diverted the funds to his trading firm Alameda Research.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the crypto genius “built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto.”

“FTX operated behind a veneer of legitimacy Mr. Bankman-Fried created by, among other things, touting its best-in-class controls, including a proprietary ‘risk engine,’ and FTX’s adherence to specific investor protection principles and detailed terms of service. But as we allege in our complaint, that veneer wasn’t just thin, it was fraudulent,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

This comes after Bankman–Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday evening at the request of the US Government. He is expected to be extradited to the USA to face a litany of fraud charges.

The 30-year-old has been a popular fixture in the media since the implosion of his crypto platform a month ago, apologizing for the ‘accounting errors’ as he claimed he did not commit fraud in one interview with New York Times.

Bankman-Fried is expected to face a judge today in the Bahamas to process his extradition.

US regulators signaled that other charges are pending stating that there are ongoing investigations into “other securities law violations” and into other entities and individuals.