How Did Sam Bankman-Fried Make His $250 Million Bail?
The release this week of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency executive, from federal custody on a $250 million bond has raised questions about the federal bail process and why such a high-profile defendant was allowed to go free.
The bond essentially amounts to a promise to appear in court when required; it does not compel Bankman-Fried, who is charged with numerous crimes related to his handling of the cryptocurrency exchange he founded, to pay $250 million.
No money has changed hands and none will unless Bankman-Fried fails to show up for court or is found to have violated other conditions set by the judge.
In that case, his parents’ house in Palo Alto, California, which was used to secure the bond, could be seized by the government. The four people who are to co-sign the bond, including one nonfamily member, would be on the hook for the rest of the $250 million.
Two of those people are Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford University law professors who supported their son in promoting his exchange, FTX. It is not known who the other two co-signers are.
A spokesperson for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.
How is it possible that such a high-profile defendant was released without having to pay any money?
Bankman-Fried was in the Bahamas when he was charged, and extradition can be a highly complicated process, leading to a lengthy legal battle. In court in New York on Thursday, a prosecutor, Nicolas Roos, said that had Bankman-Fried not consented to extradition, it was “a near certainty” that the government would have sought his detention.
Sabrina Shroff, a former federal defender, said: “My guess is that this was an agreed-upon bail package before he ever left the Bahamas. Extradition from the Bahamas is difficult, and
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