United States prosecutors have decided to drop criminal campaign finance charges against Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of the now defunct cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.
They came to this decision due to the complication related to the United States extradition treaty with the Bahamas. The 31-year-old billionaire argued that his campaign contributions were not part of the extradition document signed off by the Bahamas.
Bahamas Establish Stance on SBF’s Criminal Campaign Finance Charge
Truly, the charge was not in view when enforcement agencies from the U.S. informed authorities in the Bahamas of the intention to indict SBF to facilitate his arrest last year. It was not until later before the indictment was added.
The Bahamian government has also clarified that it does not intend to extradite SBF on account of the campaign finance charge, hence, any such persecution from the U.S. would amount to a violation of the extradition treaty between the two countries.
“In keeping with its treaty obligations to The Bahamas, the government does not intend to proceed to trial on the campaign contributions count,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams wrote in a letter to the court Wednesday.
SBF’s lawyers have filed several motions requesting to dismiss the charges against the former CEO including the campaign finance charge. However, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York refused their request. Instead, he encouraged prosecutors to confirm if the Bahamas government agreed to the campaign finance allegation under the terms of its extradition treaty with the U.S.
SBF May Face Prolonged Jail Time
Going forward, U.S. prosecutors still plan to go on with the other charges against the young billionaire.
Their focus is now on the alleged fraud committed by SBF within FTX and other associated ventures of the cryptocurrency exchange as well as other charges. If found guilty of these charges, the former FTX CEO and Alameda Research co-founder faces the possibility of spending many decades in jail.
Amidst all these, a recent lawsuit against the already-embattled man claimed that he is utilizing company funds, amounting to about $10 million to finance his criminal defense. The filing explained that SBF and other executives of FTX financed their luxury lifestyles, made political and charitable donations as well as speculative investments and other pet projects with customers’ deposits.
