Sam Bankman-Fried has been extradited to the US from the Bahamas as he faces criminal charges related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Bahamian authorities said the FTX The founder had waived his right to challenge the extradition and Bankman-Fried was seen leaving a trial court in Nasssau in a dark van.
According to Reuters, a plane carrying the former CEO left the Bahamas from a private airfield next to the Nassau airport.
bankman-fried it is due to land at New York's Westchester County airport and will likely appear before a US judge later Thursday.
It comes after two of his associates pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the collapse of FTX.
Carolyn Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, a trading company started by Bankman-Fried, and Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, have pleaded guilty to charges "related to their role in the fraud that contributed to the collapse of FTX," the federal prosecutor said. Damian Williams.
Bankman-Fried had previously decided to accept extradition in part out of a "desire to make the relevant clients whole," according to the affidavit, which is dated December 20.
His attorney told the judge that his client was "eager to go."
After the statements, the hearing was adjourned.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week charged the cryptocurrency mogul with the theft of billions of dollars in assets from FTX clients to cover losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, in what U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called "one of the biggest financial frauds in United States history." Joined".
Bankman-Fried was arrested on a US extradition request last week in the Bahamas, where FTX lives and is based.
He initially said he would challenge the extradition, but it was reported over the weekend that he would reverse that decision.
Bankman-Fried has acknowledged failings in risk management at FTX, but said he does not believe he bears criminal liability.
His personal wealth is believed to have increased to $20bn (ยฃ16.2bn) at the peak of the exchange, but has since dropped to $100,000 (ยฃ83,000).
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How FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried went from a ยฃ21bn empire to being accused of fraud
Wednesday's hearing followed a confusing sequence of events this week that left the status of Bankman-Fried's long-awaited extradition unclear.
On Monday, following news reports that he had agreed to be extradited, Bankman-Fried arrived at the courthouse in a black van marked "Corrections" wearing a blue jacket and white shirt.
At the hearing, his local defense attorney, Jerone Roberts, said he was not informed of the purpose of the process.
After a brief recess, Roberts said his client had seen an affidavit outlining the charges against him, but wanted access to the full indictment before consenting to extradition.
Then the process was suspended. They were expected to resume Tuesday morning, but Bankman-Fried's legal papers were not filed on time.
Bankman-Fried rode through a cryptocurrency boom to become a multi-time billionaire and an influential US political donor, before the FTX crash wiped out his wealth and tarnished his reputation.
The collapse was fueled by a wave of customer withdrawals amid concerns about the fund mix with Alameda.
The cryptocurrency exchange declared bankruptcy on November 11, and Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO the same day.
