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NASSAU, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried left a Bahamas correctional facility and arrived in court on Wednesday morning, a source said, a day after the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange signed papers paving the way for his extradition to the United States, where he faces fraud charges. Bankman-Fried is expected to sign additional papers in court finalizing his waiver of rights to fight extradition, another person close to the matter told Reuters. Bankman-Fried was arrested on a U.S. extradition request last week in The Bahamas, where he lives and where FTX is based. [1/6] Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX, leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022. Wednesday's hearing will follow a confusing sequence of events this week that left the status of Bankman-Fried's expected extradition unclear.

NASSAU, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Proceedings are set to resume on Wednesday in Sam Bankman-Fried's Bahamas court case, after the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange signed papers paving the way for his extradition to the United States, where he faces fraud charges. Bankman-Fried was arrested on a U.S. extradition request last week in The Bahamas, where he lives and where FTX is based. He initially said he would contest extradition, but Reuters and other outlets reported over the weekend that he would reverse that decision. Wednesday's hearing will follow a confusing sequence of events this week that left the status of Bankman-Fried's expected extradition unclear. [1/6] Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX, leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022.

A hearing in Bankman-Fried's case will take place on Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), a court official told Reuters. Wednesday's proceeding could set the stage for the 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul to depart the Caribbean nation, after several days of confusion about the status of Bankman-Fried's extradition. A person familiar with the matter said Bankman-Fried intends to consent to extradition. He initially told a Bahamas court he would contest extradition, but Reuters and other outlets reported over the weekend that he would reverse his decision. [1/2] The Founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022.

CNN —Two senior executives associated with collapsed crypto exchange FTX have pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges and are cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to unsealed court records. Additionally, the pair face civil fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission that were announced Wednesday night. Wang cofounded FTX with Bankman-Fried in 2019 and also worked with him at his hedge fund Alameda Research. Ellison is pleading guilty to seven counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Wang has agreed to plead guilty to four counts: wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

☆ Bankman-Fried hearing to resume on Wednesday as extradition decision looms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Maria Alejandra Cardona | Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The Founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022. Tuesday's events mark the latest episode in what has become a confusing, back-and-forth saga over Bankman-Fried's extradition. Last week, he initially told a Bahamas court he would contest extradition, but Reuters and other outlets reported over the weekend that he would reverse his decision. During a court hearing on Monday at which Bankman-Fried appeared, Roberts said he had not been informed of the purpose of the proceeding. The person familiar with the matter told Reuters after Monday's hearing that Bankman-Fried would indeed consent to extradition.

☆ FTX's Bankman-Fried, facing extradition, due back in Bahamas court
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | Thomson Reuters Institute | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The Founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022. It was not immediately clear if Bankman-Fried had arrived at the court in Nassau. On Monday, Bankman-Fried appeared in court in capital Nassau after Reuters and other outlets reported over the weekend that he had decided to agree to extradition. But during the tumultuous hearing, a Bahamas lawyer for Bankman-Fried, Jerone Roberts, said his client was not yet ready to consent. Upon arrival in the United States, Bankman-Fried would enter a plea in federal court within a day or two.

☆ Two New York men arrested for conspiring with Russians to hack JFK taxi system
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Arriving passengers line up to get taxi outside of Terminal 4 at the JFK airport in New York. Two New York men were arrested for conspiring with Russian nationals to hack the taxi dispatch system at John F. Kennedy International Airport so they could manipulate the line and charge drivers for access to the front of the queue, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. "I know that the Pentagon is being hacked… so can't we hack the taxi industry[?]" Typically, taxi drivers looking to pick up travelers at JFK wait in a holding lot before they're dispatched to a specific terminal in the order in which they arrived. "For years, the defendants' hacking kept honest cab drivers from being able to pick up fares at JFK in the order in which they arrived," Williams said.

☆ FTX's Bankman-Fried, facing extradition, to appear in Bahamas court -source
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | Thomson Reuters Institute | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The Founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022. On Monday, Bankman-Fried appeared in court in capital Nassau after Reuters and other outlets reported over the weekend that he had decided to agree to extradition. But during the tumultuous hearing, a Bahamas lawyer for Bankman-Fried, Jerone Roberts, said his client was not yet ready to consent. Roberts said Bankman-Fried had seen an affidavit outlining the U.S. charges against him, but that he wanted to see the full indictment, which was unsealed in Manhattan federal court on Dec. 12. Upon arrival in the United States, Bankman-Fried would enter a plea in federal court within a day or two.

☆ N.Y. bishop robbed during livestreamed service is arrested on fraud and extortion charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Mirna-Alsharif-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Mirna Alsharif | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The New York City bishop who was robbed of around $1 million in jewelry during a livestreamed service in July was arrested Monday morning and is facing fraud and extortion charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. "His campaign of fraud and deceit stops now.”If convicted, Whitehead faces a minimum of 20 years in prison, court documents say. “Bishop Lamor Whitehead is not guilty of these charges. “You wanna come preach?” he’s heard saying toward the end of the livestreamed service. Whitehead wasn’t arrested, according to police, but the bishop disagreed and said he was put in a holding cell.

Bankman-Fried initially had said he would fight extradition after his arrest a week ago in the Bahamas, where he lives and FTX is based. Reuters reported first on Saturday that Bankman-Fried would return to court to reverse his decision, citing a source. Bankman-Fried's defense lawyer however told Magistrate Shaka Serville that he does not know why Bankman-Fried was brought to court this morning. LONG ROAD TO EVENTUAL TRIAL[1/7] The Founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at the Magistrate Court building in Nassau, Bahamas December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dante Carrer 1 2 3 4 5Upon being extradited to the United States, Bankman-Fried would be required to appear before a judge in Manhattan within two days, though the hearing would likely take place quickly.

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas on Monday and agree to be extradited to the United States, where he faces fraud charges. Bankman-Fried initially said he would fight extradition after his arrest a week ago in the Bahamas, where he lives and FTX is based. Reuters reported first on Saturday that Bankman-Fried would return to court to reverse his decision. Upon being extradited to the United States, Bankman-Fried would be required to appear before a judge in Manhattan within two days, though the hearing would likely take place quickly. Any trial of Bankman-Fried is likely more than a year away, legal experts told Reuters.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried pictured arriving at courthouse in Bahamas, where his extradition to the US could be decided
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It's still not certain if Sam Bankman-Fried will submit to an extradition to be brought to the US. He's facing serious wire fraud and conspiracy charges in New York federal court. Federal prosecutors in the US have hit Bankman-Fried with 8 counts, including for wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. "These contributions were disguised to look like they were coming from wealthy co-conspirators when, in fact, the contributions were funded by Alameda research with stolen customer money," Williams said at the conference. The brief indictment against Bankman-Fried targeted just him, and laid the foundation to extradite him from the Bahamas.

☆ Exclusive: Sam Bankman-Fried to reverse decision on contesting extradition
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Jasper Ward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

His decision to consent to extradition would pave the way for him to appear in U.S. court to face wire fraud, money laundering and campaign finance charges. At his initial court hearing in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried would be asked to enter a plea and a judge would make a determination on bail, Margulis-Ohnuma said. The attorney added that such a hearing must take place within 48 hours of Bankman-Fried's arrival in the United States, though it would likely be sooner. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management failings at FTX but has said he does not believe he has criminal liability. 'BIGGEST FINANCIAL FRAUDS IN AMERICAN HISTORY'It was not immediately clear what prompted Bankman-Fried to change his mind and decide not to contest extradition.

The bare-bones indictment against Bankman-Fried - which could be amended with more details and co-defendants as the case progresses - suggests prosecutors have a long road ahead piecing together what they have described as one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. “A trial is probably 14 to 18 months out,” said Michael Weinstein, a white-collar criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor. On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan said a grand jury had indicted Bankman-Fried on wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, campaign finance law violations and conspiracy charges. The indictment came just weeks after Bankman-Fried's $32 billion crypto exchange collapsed - an extraordinarily fast turnaround for prosecutors. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday but indicated he would fight extradition to the United States.

NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - A dual citizen of Sweden and the United Kingdom pleaded guilty to U.S. fraud and money laundering charges on Friday for selling a fake cryptocurrency alongside one of the United States' most-wanted fugitives, a woman referred to as the 'Cryptoqueen.' The plea comes as prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) ramp up enforcement of financial crimes related to digital assets. Prosecutors said Greenwood founded OneCoin in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2014 alongside Ruja Ignatova, a German citizen who prosecutors say is also known as the 'Cryptoqueen.' He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5 for the three counts to which he pleaded guilty. He is currently detained in The Bahamas, where FTX is based, and is contesting a U.S. request for his extradition.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail, but legal watchers are wondering: Where's ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison isn't named in prosecutors' charges against Sam Bankman-FriedBut the SEC's civil suit references her statements on the relationship between FTX and Alameda. Conspiracy charges and civil claims against SBF show others in the crosshairs, legal experts said. But her rise as CEO at Alameda, Bankman-Fried's other crypto company separate from FTX, may certainly put her in investigators' sights. The SEC's complaint on Tuesday claimed that Bankman-Fried "remained the ultimate decision-maker" at Alameda, even after Ellison took over the reins. Since Bankman-Fried's crypto empire began unraveling in November however, Ellison has stayed away from the public eye.

Now, with the fraud charges filed earlier this week against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange, Williams has further solidified his office's growing role in prosecuting financial crimes involving cryptocurrency, according to interviews with a half-dozen former prosecutors. Bankman-Fried, 30, has acknowledged risk management failures at FTX but said he does not believe he has criminal liability. In the wake of Bankman-Fried's arrest, Williams has made clear he would plow on with cryptocurrency enforcement. On Wednesday, he announced wire fraud conspiracy charges against the founders of two separate cryptocurrency mining and trading companies he called Ponzi schemes. On Tuesday, Williams told reporters more charges in the FTX probe were possible.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is introducing legislation Wednesday aimed at cracking down on money laundering in cryptocurrency. The Senate Banking Committee, which includes Warren, is holding a hearing Wednesday on the FTX debacle and aftermath. The bill would designate providers of digital asset wallets as money service businesses, bringing them under the authorities of the Bank Secrecy Act, which fights money laundering in the financial system. Further, it would prohibit financial institutions from dealing with services that blend the cryptocurrencies of users together, obscuring their origins. Warren has been an outspoken critic of FTX prior to Bankman-Fried’s indictment.

Bankman-Fried and unnamed co-conspirators made "tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions" to both Democratic and Republican candidates and campaign committees, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for Southern New York, said at a news conference unveiling the eight-count criminal indictment, which included a campaign finance violation charge. "And all of this dirty money," Williams said, was used to "buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington." FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted by police officers as he leaves court in Nassau, Bahamas on Dec. 13, 2022. The indictment alleges he also made illegal contributions through a corporation, which it does not name. Once believed to be a financial wunderkind, Bankman-Fried also faces a host of other charges.

☆ Premarket stocks: Investors are hoping for the economic tide to turn. The wait may soon be over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

What’s happening: Price increases in the United States cooled more than economists expected last month, recording the lowest level of growth since last December. This is the second consecutive month of moderating price pressures and could mean the underlying trend of inflation is finally decelerating. That’s a welcome and hopeful sign for consumers, policymakers and investors, said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. The bill specifically names TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, as social media companies for the purposes of the legislation. In the past two weeks, at least seven states have introduced such measures, including Maryland, South Dakota and Utah.

John J. Ray, chief executive officer of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, arrives to a House Financial Services Committee hearing investigating the collapse of FTX in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. Instead, like bankers and lawyers who are working on the bankruptcy proceedings, the new leadership team is professional independent contractors. That means, among other things, that they get paid immediately, before any FTX investors receive recompense for their losses. According to court filings, the new FTX CEO will collect $1,300 hourly plus "reasonable expenses" for his work untangling what U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called "one of the biggest frauds in American history" in a news conference Tuesday. In one bankruptcy case Ray worked on, he billed around 156 hours in a two-month period, netting him $120,582, so his billings for FTX may run higher or lower.

The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday is holding a second day of hearings this week on the downfall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, examining how the company's implosion could impact the nascent industry. Old school, old school." Bankman-Fried was charged by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York for a wide variety of crimes including wire fraud, securities fraud and violating campaign finance regulations. Though Ray and Bankman-Fried won't be part of the Senate Banking hearing on Wednesday, four cryptocurrency experts will be testifying instead, including Kevin O'Leary, a longtime paid FTX spokesman. "In my opinion, it is the largest Ponzi scheme in history by an order of magnitude."

☆ Disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried 'orchestrated yearslong fraud' on investors and customers, SEC and criminal charges say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency giant FTX, defrauded investors by funneling money into his private hedge fund and conspired to commit wire fraud against customers and lenders, federal authorities said Tuesday. The Manhattan panel indicted Bankman-Fried on eight counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance laws. $8 billion loss to customersThe wire fraud on lenders and customers started in or about 2019 and lasted through November, according to the filing. Separately, in a filing Tuesday also in the Southern District of New York, the SEC charged him with defrauding investors and enriching Alameda. FTX CEO pledges continued cooperationAlso Tuesday, the company’s new CEO, John J. Ray III, testified at a congressional hearing on FTX’s collapse and missteps.

☆ Breakingviews: Sam Bankman-Fried lacks cover of systemic risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MELBOURNE, Dec 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sam Bankman-Fried couldn’t be blamed for mulling over past financial scandals with a degree of envy. The former boss of bankrupt crypto exchange-cum-hedge-fund FTX was arrested on Monday in the Bahamas at the request of U.S. prosecutors. No senior executives ended up facing criminal charges, or were hauled off in handcuffs even, though several Libor traders went to jail. loadingCONTEXT NEWSSam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of now-bankrupt crypto firm FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Dec. 12. The attorney general’s office for the Caribbean state said it took Bankman-Fried into custody after receiving formal confirmation of criminal charges from U.S. prosecutors.

☆ Everything you need to know about the FTX saga that unfolded today
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

On Tuesday, Ray testified before the House Financial Services Committee, relaying what he could about the company he took over just four weeks ago. FTX, on the other hand, was “not sophisticated at all.”“This is really old-fashioned embezzlement,” Ray continued. They say he misappropriated FTX customers’ deposits by using those funds to pay expenses and debts of Alameda, his crypto hedge fund. (The SDNY are an aggressive people, but they are not sloppy, and they don’t indict without a solid case.) Several lawyers not involved in the case have told me that the speed of Bankman-Fried’s arrest signals that former FTX employees may be aiding prosecutors.

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