Ex-girlfriend of FTX founder ‘has a choice’ as she co-ops officials: Mark Litt

The girlfriend of disgraced FTX founder Samuel Bankman-Fred is said to have cooperated with federal officials, it has been revealed, shortly after his arrest in the Bahamas in connection with the collapse of his crypto empire.

Former U.S. attorney Mark Lett, who was involved in the Bernie Madoff trial, joined “Fox & Friends Weekend” Sunday to discuss the report alleging that Alameda’s chief research executive, Caroline Ellison, worked with officials regarding the charges against him.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all,” Litt Lowell Cain said regarding the report. “She was the CEO of a company that appears to be intimately involved in the alleged fraud, and is…in the government’s crosshairs…and has a choice to make.”

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He continued, “There is a bit of a race for the prosecution at this stage because the government needs collaborators.” “It is in her interest to spin her own story and tell her story before anyone else the government talks to, pointing fingers at her, so she has every incentive to cooperate and get the benefits of cooperation.”

Bankman Fried Monday arrested He was indicted Tuesday in Manhattan federal court on charges of fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance in connection with an alleged scheme to embezzle billions of dollars in client funds deposited on the international cryptocurrency exchange FTX and mislead investors and lenders to FTX and Alameda Research, the cryptocurrency hedge fund he also founded. . The former Bankman Fried Ellison served as CEO of the latter company.

Bankman Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas, is expected to appear in a Bahamas courtroom on Monday to reverse course and agree to extradition.

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Litt explained his role as a defendant in the extradition process and why he could resist the action, which delayed his imminent return to the United States.

“The defendant has rights,” Litt said. “There is a process to follow, and the defendant has a difficult choice to make. They can either decide to fight extradition or they can waive that process and come voluntarily to the United States.”

“He may decide to fight extradition if he thinks delay is his friend or if he thinks there is a chance that the country he is in will not fully or will not extradite him because of some of the charges he is facing.” I continued.

But Lett also mentioned that it might be in his best interest, in this particular case, to decide not to fight the extradition if he wanted a chance to better defend himself.

“On the other hand, if it is almost inevitable that he will be extradited and if delay is not his friend, which I believe here is, he may decide to abdicate voluntarily and come to the United States,” Lett said. “It’s very difficult to defend yourself against this kind of charge from prison and from prison. It’s very difficult to do that if you’re in a foreign country.”

Bankman-Fried was the second largest donor to the Democratic Party during the 2022 midterm elections, giving candidates nearly $40 million.

Officials have been in touch with both the Democratic and Republican campaigns about those donations since the FTX implosion.

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FOX Business’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.