Finance

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was 'chilling' in the American Airlines lounge at JFK before flying business class to his parents' home to await trial

A man stands at a lectern.
Sam Bankman-Fried speaks at a June 23, 2022, benefit for CARE - Children With Special Needs in New York City. Craig Barritt/Getty Images for CARE For Special Children
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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been pictured in the American Airlines business class lounge at John F. Kennedy International Airport before flying to his parents' home at Palo Alto, California on Thursday.

The cofounder and former CEO of collapsed crypto trading platform FTX was released on a $250 million bond on Thursday. He was required to surrender his passport and stay with his parents ahead of a federal trial over the failure of FTX.

Litquidity tweeted pictures of Bankman-Fried at JFK on Thursday. 

 

Bankman-Fried was arrested on December 13 in the Bahamas, where his company was headquartered, as federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed an eight-count criminal complaint against him.

He was flown to New York on Wednesday night after a Bahamian magistrate, who denied him bail on charges there, signed off on the extradition to the US.

Crypto reporter Tiffany Fong also tweeted a picture of Bankman-Fried on his AA flight.

FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 11, wiping out customer deposits worth billions. Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO the same day.

A lawyer for Bankman-Fried didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider.

 

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Sam Tabahriti reports on trending business news from the London bureau. He frequently covers tech, such as Apple, Twitter, Meta, and Google as well as transportation. Sam is particularly interested in investigating tech companies.  He received his BA in Journalism from the University of Westminster.  Before joining Insider, Sam worked for BBC, The Sunday Times Magazine, talkRADIO, Metro, and more.  Reach out You can get in touch with him by email at stabahriti@bjinnox.com or stabahriti@proton.me securely. He is also available via Twitter @samtabahriti or Instagram @samtbrt. WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram available upon request.  Top stories A SpaceX technician suffered a fractured skull during a routine rocket test in January and was placed in a coma A 62-year old engineer alleges he was sidelined at SpaceX over fears that he might 'retire or die' Rich Russians offered a Caribbean shortcut to US visas by paying their way to a Grenadian passport Dozens of seized superyachts may cause significant environmental damage if governments fail to pay millions in maintenance costs, experts say Russian oligarchs have been sanctioned like Osama bin Laden was, and they're using similar tactics to avoid them, an expert said Russian oligarchs anticipated sanctions months before the war and moved money through Hawala, an informal payment system, an expert says