Will the charges against Sam Bankman-Fried be dropped?

Some charges against the FTX founder may have to be dropped by the U.S. Attorney's Office if the Bahamas does not grant special permission.

Three charges against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried may be dropped if the government of The Bahamas opposes them. This is according to a document filed May 29 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Bankman-Fried's defense had previously argued that some of the US Attorney General's charges were not included in the original charges underlying Bankman-Fried's extradition. The additional charges were therefore a violation of the Bahamas-U.S. extradition treaty and had to be dismissed.

The treaty does not prevent the U.S. from charging a suspect with additional crimes after his extradition, prosecutors say. But only so long as he is not "imprisoned, convicted or punished" for these additional crimes without the consent of the extradition country.

Permission required from Bahamian authorities

Thus, additional indictments require the Bahamian authorities' consent first. "The government will proceed with the new charges in the S5 indictment if The Bahamas will agree to a trial on these charges, and will not proceed with these charges if The Bahamas opposes the government's request," according to the letter.

The three charges, which require a waiver from The Bahamas, include conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In November 2022, the crypto exchange FTX, founded by Bankman-Fried, collapsed. His trial is scheduled for October 2023. He faces up to 115 years in prison.