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Two senior Bahamian officers and eleven other men accused of transporting narcotics to the United States could face life in US prison if convicted.

Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor Damian Williams, known for his aggressive investigations which resulted in a string of high-profile indictments and convictions, brought the charges against the two senior Bahamian officers and eleven other men which include two Colombian nationals, accused of conspiracy to transport narcotics from Colombia to the Bahamas and into the United States.

Williams said, “Today’s charges should serve as yet another powerful wake-up call to corrupt officials everywhere—we will not rest until you are held accountable for your role in the drug trade that is poisoning this country and our community.”

Chief Superintendent Elvis Curtis, 51; Sergeant Prince Symonette, 52; Chief Petty Officer Darren Roker, 56; Riccardo Davis, 59; William Simeon, 52; Theodore Adderley,53; Joshua Scavella, 46; Lorielmo Steele-Pomare, 59, of Colombia; Luis Fernando Orozco-Toro, 58, of Colombia; Davon Rolle, 34; Darren Ferguson, 54; Domonick Delancy, 36, of The Bahamas; and Donald Ferguson 26; are charged with cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; using and carrying firearms during, and possessing firearms in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and conspiring to use and carry firearms during, and possessing firearms in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Williams, the first Black prosecutor to lead the Southern District of New York, secured a fraud conviction against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a corruption and bribery conviction of former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. His office is also prosecuting New York City Mayor Eric Adams for bribery, fraud, and campaign finance charges as well as rapper and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs on charges including sex trafficking.

Williams said of the indictment secured against Bahamian nationals, “As alleged, for years, drug traffickers have smuggled tons of cocaine through The Bahamas with the support and protection of corrupt Bahamian government officials who control airports throughout the country and provide sensitive information about U.S. Coast Guard movements to drug traffickers.

“This indictment is the latest in a series of charges that this Office and the DEA’s Special Operations Division have brought against corrupt government officials around the globe who partner with dangerous cocaine traffickers.”

Williams commended the prosecutors of this Office and partners at the DEA for disrupting “drug-fueled corruption wherever it takes hold.”

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods.

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 FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried, now facing a litany of criminal charges in the US, was expected to testify before US Congress on Tuesday, fielding questions from the House Financial Services Committee on the billions of dollars missing from his cryptocurrency platform. Instead, he stood in a Bahamas court under arrest and fighting extradition, as new CEO John Ray III showed up on Capitol Hill alone, revealing the spectacular underpinnings of FTX, the now troubled exchange.

The public anticipated Bankman-Fried’s appearance, whether in-person or virtually, since Chairwoman Maxine Waters posted the request to Twitter, appealing for the former billionaire to account for the missing massive cash which belonged to his customers and investors.

The arrest of Bankman-Fried was rapid and shocking. The dramatic turn of events now meant US lawmakers will no longer grill him on Capitol Hill.

Congressman William Timmons (Republican-South Carolina), also a former prosecutor, questioned the “bizarre” move by the prosecutors of the South District of New York.

“Why 36 hours before testifying…did the South District New York send an arrest warrant to facilitate the arrest to preclude his [Sam Bankman-Field] testimony?” he asked.

Ray agreed that Bankman-Fried’s testimony to Congress would have “absolutely” been helpful to understanding the case.

Bankman-Fried was arrested on Monday night in the Bahamas, by request from the US government, one day before the congressional hearing. US Prosecutor Damian Williams threw eight charges of conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and campaign violation at the 30-year-old crypto darling.

“I believe it was a decision made by the DOJ to prevent Sam Bankman-Fried from coming here to answer questions in front of people,” Timmons asserted.

His testimony “would be great for the case,” he continued. “I just don’t understand it.”

“I look forward to figuring out why they did that.”

Bankman-Fried was the second biggest donor to the Democratic party, even giving millions to President Joe Biden when he campaigned against Donald Trump. It is reported that he hoped to influence crypto regulations.

FTX, once valued at $32 billion imploded in a matter of weeks after documents were leaked that Bankman-Fried was funneling cash to his sister company Alameda Research, and the exchange had a gap of $8 billion in losses.

Bankman-Fried quickly filed for bankruptcy on November 11 and the man who was once lauded for his billion-dollar crypto successes became the villain of the financial market with only a meager $100,000 reportedly left in his bank account.

Photo credit: Keith Gomez