Some SBF charges will be dropped if Bahamas objects, U.S. prosecutors say
United States prosecutors will drop some of the charges against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried if the Bahamas government objects to them, according to a document filed on May 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
And the charges against Sam Bankman-Fried are beginning to disappear… h/t @DecentFiJC pic.twitter.com/JEIF0uR31i
The document was filed in response to a May 8 defense motion that had attempted to dismiss some of Bankman-Fried’s charges. The defense had argued on May 8 that four of the charges, including ones related to bribing Chinese officials and violating campaign finance laws, were not in the original indictment that had been the basis for Bankman-Fried’s extradition. Therefore, they concluded that these extra charges violated the extradition treaty between the U.S. and the Bahamas and should be dismissed.
In the new response, prosecutors argued that the treaty does not prevent the U.S. from charging a defendant with additional crimes after extradition, as long as they are not “detained, tried, or punished” for these additional crimes without the consent of the extraditing country. Prosecutors said they are currently seeking a specialty waiver from the Bahamas that would allow them to try Bankman-Fried for three of the four charges the defense objected to. However, these charges will not be levied against him if the Bahamas does not grant the waiver:
The three charges that require a waiver from the Bahamas include conspiracy to commit bank fraud (Count 9), conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business (Count 10) and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (Count 13).
Related: ‘Big Short’ author Michael Lewis almost ready to publish book on SBF
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