Bahamas Supreme Court Allows FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried To Contest Post-Extradition Charges

The Bahamas Supreme Court says Sam Bankman-Fried has the right to be heard before the island nation consents to some of the charges that US authorities filed against the disgraced FTX founder.

Bankman-Fried is now facing charges that are not covered in the original indictment that served as the basis for his extradition.

According to court documents, Bankman-Fried is claiming that he has the right to contest the charges that were not present during his extradition before the Bahamas can consent to his prosecution on additional offenses.

In a new ruling, Bahamas Supreme Court Judge Loren Klein decided in favor of Bankman-Fried’s bid to contest the charges.

“Leave is granted to the claimant to commence proceedings for judicial review.”

Klein says Bankman-Fried should not be deprived of his right to due process amid the possibility of a greater penalty and longer period of imprisonment if he is found guilty of the additional charges.

“If the claimant is right in the contention that he has a right to be heard, any decision to grant consent without allowing him to make representations would deprive him of the procedural guarantees under the combination of the Treaty and the Act relating to the making of such a decision.”

Judge Klein says the Bahamian country’s foreign affairs minister and the attorney general should not allow US prosecutors to pursue the additional charges pending the conclusion of the legal proceeding.

“I grant the injunction sought at paragraph (ix) of the application that the defendants be restrained from granting consent to the request of the US to try the claimant for additional offenses which did not form the basis for the claimant’s extradition pending the hearing and determination of the claimant’s claim for judicial review.”

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Featured Image: Shutterstock/One Time/Praveen Nanu