After being denied bail in a Bahamas magistrate court, former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, could spend up to two months in the country’s Fox Hill prison, a facility where there have been reports of physical abuse against prisoners and “harsh” conditions.
Bankman-Fried was allegedly placed in the Fox Hill medical wing by Bahamian authorities after a hearing on 13 December. Bankman-Fried’s lawyer stated that he had been taking medication prior to his arrest on December 12, including Adderall and antidepressants, but it is not clear if the former executive will serve his sentence in the penitentiary center, in his medical unit or in an alternative place.
According to a 2021 human rights report from the US Department of State, conditions at Fox Hill were “harsh”, according to investigations which found the facility was overcrowded, prisoners were poorly fed, and there were no adequate sanitary facilities or medical care. The report also included cases of physical abuse by prison officials.
“Maximum security cells for men measured approximately two meters by two meters and held up to six people without mattresses or bathrooms,” the report said. “Inmates removed human waste with buckets. Inmates complained about the lack of beds and sheets. Some inmates developed bedsores from lying on the bare floor. Sanitation was a general problem, and cells were infested with rats, worms and insects”.
Fox Hill is the only prison in the Bahamas, and the Carmichael Road Detention Center was designed for short stays. However, Bahamas Correctional Services Commissioner Doan Cleare stated that most of the facilities had been renovated following the State Department report and had no “rat problems”.
Bankman-Fried is likely to remain in custody in the Bahamas until February while extradition proceedings with the United States proceed. The former FTX CEO faces charges from the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission related to defrauding investors and lenders.
Many in the cryptocurrency industry had called for the arrest of Bankman-Fried following the FTX liquidity crisis and its subsequent bankruptcy. The former CEO went on an “apology tour” in the mainstream media almost up until the moment he was detained by authorities, with many pointing out inconsistencies and falsehoods in his statements.
It is absolutely baffling that SBF settled in the Bahamas and decided to stay even after FTX collapsed, presumably knowing the prison conditions.
He clearly did not believe for a second that he would be arrested.
He is probably now praying for extradition…
. https://t.co/4QSg2isycf
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) December 14, 2022
It is utterly mystifying that Sam Bankman-Fried settled in the Bahamas and decided to stay even after FTX collapsed, presumably knowing the prison conditions.
He clearly did not believe for a second that he would be arrested.
He is probably now praying for extradition…
Conspiracy theories abounded on social media about Bankman-Fried’s fate in the Bahamas or his possible return to the United States, and some they speculated with which he would try to bribe to get out of jail. If he returned to the United States and was found guilty on all counts, reports suggested he could face up to 115 years in prison.
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