It’s possible to avoid extradition in many cases. While Sam Bankman-Fried<\/a> has decided to voluntary extradition to the US I want to take a look at what he could have done to avoid extradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam Bankman-Fried was the CEO and largest shareholder of the crypto exchange FTX. After the collapse of the exchange and the loss of billions of dollars in client funds, Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas. He faces extradition proceedings in The Bahamas to be returned to the US for prosecution. A judge in Bahamas refused to release him on bail last week. He\u2019s currently in prison in The Bahamas waiting the formal extradition request from The United States. Today he agreed to be voluntarily extradited to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Extradition process is a valid defence strategy. Prosecutors will use every tool at their disposal to have someone prosecuted and locked up for a long time. A defendant has every right to use whatever legal strategies he has at his disposal to avoid extradition. Extradition can be a key tool and can offer serious advantages to the defendant. Even if he ends up being extradited or returned voluntarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bankman-Fried clearly thinks he has a better chance of getting bail in the US than in The Bahamas. A deal with prosecutors to return voluntarily and get bail in the US may have been done. This may have been more appealing to Bankman-Fried than spending months in a Bahamian prison attempting to avoid extradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bahamas and The United States have an extradition treaty that was signed back in 1990. You can see it here. <\/a>For someone to be extradited the offence they\u2019re accused of must be a crime in both jurisdictions. He has been accused of fraud, conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to violate federal election laws. The fraud charge, for sure, will be a crime and therefore an extraditable offence in both The Bahamas and the US. It\u2019s less clear that the conspiracy charges and the election law violations will be offence in The Bahamas. His lawyers in The Bahamas will be looking closely at this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If he\u2019s only extradited on the fraud charges the US authorities won\u2019t be able to continue with the other charges after he\u2019s returned to the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another key point Bankman-Fried\u2019s lawyers will be considering is where the alleged offences were committed. Part of FTX\u2019s business was located in The Bahamas. If the crimes were committed there he should be prosecuted there and not on the US. Most defendants would prefer to be prosecuted outside the US. Sentences for white collar crimes outside the US are a fraction of what they are in the land of the free. His lawyers may be pushing hard for him to be prosecuted in The Bahamas as a strategy to avoid extradition. The US would be unable to extradite him if he\u2019s prosecuted for the same crimes in The Bahamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The extradition treaty between The US and The Bahamas doesn\u2019t exclude extraditing their own citizens. Many countries prohibit the extradition of their own citizens<\/a>. Had Bankman Fried got himself a passport from Brazil or Portugal <\/a>before his alleged crimes were committed it would be impossible to extradite him from those countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Citizenship of The Bahamas takes 10 years to get, so it\u2019s unlikely that he has Bahamian citizenship. Even if he does it doesn\u2019t seem that it\u2019ll help him much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deportation is always a bigger risk for the accused than extradition. Assuming Bankman-Fried was living in The Bahamas legally they won\u2019t be able to deport him. He\u2019s entitled to a full extradition hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Extradition is never guaranteed. In a high profile politicised case it may seem more likely that a small jurisdiction like The Bahamas will cave into the United State. But with access to huge resources and the best lawyers, anything can happen. There are numerous grounds that extradition could be refused. This includes things like the length of the likely sentence and prison conditions in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUsing the Extradition Process is a Valid Defence Strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Are the Crimes Covered by the Extradition Treaty Extraditable Offences?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Where were the crimes committed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Is he a Bahamas Citizen?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Deportation Risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Grounds for Refusal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n