The head of the legal system in the Bahamas said the US will 'likely' ask for Sam Bankman-Fried's extradition

• The US is "likely" to request Sam Bankman-Fried be extradited to the US, the Bahamas attorney general said.
• The attorney general indicated the Bahamas intended to extradite Bankman-Fried if requested.

US authorities are "likely" to request the extradition of Sam Bankman-Fried, the Bahamas attorney general, Sen. Ryan Pinder KC, said in a statement shared online on Monday, shortly after the FTX cofounder's arrest.

The disgraced crypto founder was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday based on a "sealed indictment" from US authorities, the US Attorney's Office Southern District of New York said on social media. Bankman-Fried is also facing separate charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Bahamas attorney general said in the statement that the US had filed criminal charges against Bankman-Fried and was "likely to request his extradition."

Pinder indicated the Bahamas intended to extradite the FTX cofounder if requested, per the statement.

"At such time as a formal request for extradition is made. The Bahamas intends to process it promptly, pursuant to Bahamian law and its treaty obligations with the United States," Pinder said.

The US government has an extradition treaty with the Bahamas that allows for the extradition of defendants for charges that would be considered a crime in both countries and could result in a jail sentence of longer than a year.

Bankman-Fried's arrest comes after the crypto exchange platform, FTX, and its affiliates collapsed in mid-November.

Bankman-Fried is facing allegations that he misused FTX customer funds to prop up Alameda Research, another company he owned, resulting in billions of dollars in losses.

Representatives for the Bahamas attorney general office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside normal working hours.