Sam Bankman-Fried will remain in custody until February 8th, 2023.
Bahamas Magistrate Court, the lowest court in the Bahamas and the primary court for many civil and criminal cases, has denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) request for bail.
According to the news report shared by the New York Times, Judge JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt denied the request claiming that there is a “risk of flight.”
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Bankman-Fried’s lawyer filed the request for bail on December 13th, claiming that the former FTX CEO suffers from depression and insomnia. Moreover, the man doesn’t have a criminal record and didn’t flee the Bahamas even when he had a chance. Initially, the lawyer asked the bail to be set at $250,000.
On top of that, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer stated that the man did not take his medication, such as antidepressants and “Adderall,” which negatively affects Bankman-Fried’s well-being.
Nevertheless, in the appeal, Bankman-Fried's lawyer stated that SBF agrees to be electronically monitored or report himself to local police stations in the case of bail.
However, despite Bankman-Fried’s attempt, the Judge denied the request and stated that SBF must remain in custody at the Bahamas Department of Corrections until the hearing on February 8th, 2023.
It is worth noting that a former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested on December 12th by the Royal Bahamas Police Force. The arrest was made after the United States filed criminal charges against the man.
In the United States, SBF is blamed for being involved in wire fraud, money laundering, securities fraud and other financial violations. One of the violations made by SBF was that he was reportedly using customer money to fund his firm, Alameda Research.
The days are getting even grimmer for SBF as new charges were placed by US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
