The Pampered Prisoner: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Family Asks Bahamas Prison to Feed Him Vegan Meals

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and chief executive officer of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives E
Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg/Getty

The family of disgraced FTX founder and Democrat super donor Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly asked officials at his overcrowded, rat-infested Bahamas prison to feed him vegan meals following his arrest on Monday.

Bankman-Fried’s relatives called the Bahamas prison, known as Fox Hill, on Tuesday night, asking if the guards can serve vegan meals to him, according to a source who spoke to Bloomberg News.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (second on left) is led away in handcuffs by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas, on December 13, 2022. (MARIO DUNCANSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The family’s request, however, may be futile, as conditions at Fox Hill are already pretty grim. The prison is known for overcrowding, poor sanitation, and low-grade medical care, according to a 2020 U.S. State Department report, which also noted rat and maggot infestation, and small cells with only buckets for toilets.

Moreover, Bankman-Fried is unable to receive visitors due to coronavirus-related restrictions at the prison. Sources familiar with the situation said the FTX founder currently has his own room at the prison’s maximum security unit, and that he will have to remain there until his February 8 extradition hearing.

On Tuesday, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said he planned to fight being extradited to the U.S. — where he is set to face fraud charges — but these hostile prison conditions might make him rethink his stance.

Additionally, a judge has denied Bankman-Fried’s request to be released on $250,000 cash bail and an ankle monitor. If convicted, he could face up to 115 years in prison.

Founded in 2019, FTX had a dramatic collapse last month, when Bankman-Fried told investors that the cryptocurrency exchange was facing a major shortfall of up to $8 billion from withdrawal requests and needed emergency funding. That disclosure was then followed up with a bankruptcy filing.

The FTX founder has since been hit with an array of charges, including a host of fresh charges on Tuesday relating to possible financial crimes and campaign finance violations.

Bankman-Fried, who had an estimated net worth of $16 billion last month, is now supposedly broke — an incident described by Bloomberg as “one of history’s greatest-ever destructions of wealth.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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