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McGriddles Volume: 120 No.272, December 22, 2022 Sweet & Savory Mornings
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GONE: FTX FOUNDER EXTRADITED By PAVEL BAILEY Tribune Court Reporter pbailey@tribunemedia.net
SAM Bankman-Fried being escorted as he was flown out last night. Photo: Royal Bahamas Police Forc
EMBATTLED former FTX CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States yesterday after formally waiving his right to an extradition hearing. The disgraced 30-year-old spent a week on remand at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDCS) before he reversed his earlier position of planning to fight his removal to the US. Bankman-Fried faces several fraud charges in the United States, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit fraud and violating campaign finance laws. He was arrested in The Bahamas on December 12 at the request of US authorities, due to an indictment against him. During yesterday’s hearing before Magistrate Shaka Serville, an affidavit signed by Bankman-Fried was presented indicating he intended to comply with Section 17 of the Extradition Act. His attorney
Jerone Roberts said “out of courtesy” he gave a copy of this document giving BankmanFried’s consent to extradition to his US lawyers. The attorney then referred to Article 14 of the Extradition Act which applies the rule of specialty. Citing this legal clause he asked that the magistrate ensure that Bankman-Fried is only tried for the charges currently outlined in the diplomatic note sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This note indicated that Bankman-Fried faced eight fraud related charges before the Southern District of New York. These include two counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He also faces charges of conspiracy to commit commodity fraud, conspiracy to commit security fraud, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States. In once again citing the rule of specialty and saying that it has always been his client’s desire to put his customers right, Mr Roberts asked that SEE PAGES FOUR & FIVE
PM: CHALLENGES MADE US STRONGER PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis extended Christmas greetings and offered well wishes to Bahamians in a video released by the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday. In the nearly two-minutelong video, Prime Minister Davis reflected on life’s events this year, noting that each challenge the country has faced has made us stronger. He also said that he couldn’t have been prouder to be a Bahamian.
PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis. “Christmas is a season of hope and renewal, a time for prayer and for togetherness,” Mr Davis said. “I’m here with some of
our wonderful children in the Urban Renewal programme who are making care baskets for residents of the Persis Rodgers Home for the Aged. “God’s compassion includes us all, young and old from every walk of life. Every year, at this time, we reflect that one child born in a humble stable to a family with no home was able to alter the course of humanity and change the world forever.” SEE PAGE THREE
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
150,000 TO VISIT OVER CHRISTMAS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Downtown Nassau Partnership’s co-chair yesterday hailed the increase in cruise ship traffic as a “breath of fresh air” for business with close to 150,000 passenger arrivals forecast for Christmas week. Charles Klonaris said that Bay Street merchants he has spoken to all disclosed that retail sales were matching pre-COVID levels or “even a little higher”, which they were attributing to the Nassau Cruise Port’s ability to accommodate larger and more ships. Confirming the cruise port expansion is already having “a huge” impact for downtown Nassau, even though its $300m transformation has yet to be completed, he said this festive period is “very important” for retailers, restaurants and other downtown businesses that suffered a fearsome two-and-a-half year battering from the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
JOB CUTS AT GAS STATIONS ‘NEAR CERTAIN’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A GAS station operator yesterday warned the 24 percent minimum wage increase will “almost certainly” force the sector to cut staffing levels unless the Government grants a longawaited margin increase. Vasco Bastian, the Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association’s (BPDA) vicepresident, said the industry’s business model must be modernised and switched from fixed price-controlled margins on gasoline. FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS
FRONT PORCH: THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTMAS
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