- Sam Bankman-Fried's parents reportedly attended their son's hearing in the Bahamas after his arrest.
- Bankman-Fried is facing extradition to the US, where prosecutors have unveiled criminal charges.
Sam Bankman-Fried appeared at a hearing in the Bahamas on Tuesday with his parents in attendance, according to multiple reports, including from The New York Times and the cryptocurrency site CoinDesk.
At the hearing, which largely focused on if Bankman-Fried would be released on bail, the former FTX CEO indicated that he was not waiving his right to challenge his extradition to the US, according to the report by CoinDesk. The site, which was reporting live from Nassau, in the Bahamas, broke the news of the financial links between FTX and Bankman-Fried's trading firm Alameda Research in early November.
During the proceedings, Bankman-Fried's mother Barbara Fried laughed when her son was called a "fugitive," according to CoinDesk's report, which described his parents as showing both "dejection and defiance." She also "clenched her jaw and chewed on the frames of her glasses," per the Times.
His father, Joseph Bankman, "occasionally put his fingers in his ears as if to drown out the sound of the proceedings," per CoinDesk.
After the hearing, which ended with Bankman-Fried being denied bail, both parents gave him a hug, per the Times.
Both Fried and Bankman are on the faculty at Stanford Law School, and remain in the Bahamas with their son.
Bankman-Fried's family received payments by FTX, according to the current CEO of FTX, John J Ray III, who testified before Congress on Tuesday.
The hearing came after the former FTX CEO was arrested on Monday at the request of federal prosecutors in New York. If he is extradited to the US, he can formally receive notice of the criminal charges brought against him.
A grand jury indictment against Bankman-Fried was unsealed on Tuesday, listing counts for fraud and conspiracy, including conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.
Prosecutors elaborated on some of the charges at a press conference later in the day, referencing "tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions" to candidates in both major political parties in the US.
"These contributions were disguised to look like they were coming from wealthy co-conspirators when, in fact, the contributions were funded by Alameda Research with stolen customer money," Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at the conference.
"And all of this dirty money was used in service of Bankman-Fried's desire to buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington," he said.