- Sam Bankman-Fried played crossword puzzles while being held in a notorious Bahamas jail, Bloomberg reported.
- He was held in Fox Hill prison’s sick bay, where inmates have running water, among other perks, per Bloomberg.
- Bankman-Fried flew from the Bahamas to New York overnight Wednesday to face fraud charges in the US.
Sam Bankman-Fried spent his nine days in a notorious Bahamas jail playing crossword puzzles, reading local newspapers, and eating vegan meals, Bloomberg reported.
Officials at the Fox Hill facility told Bloomberg that Bankman-Fried was held for the duration of his stay in the prison sick bay, where inmates have access to running water, a toilet, and cable TV, among other perks.
A 2021 human rights report said the main jail in Fox Hill was infested with rats and maggots, inmates had to remove human waste by bucket, and some prisoners were denied food. Inmates were forced to lie on bare ground because there were no mattresses, the report said.
New arrivals at Fox Hill must spend two weeks in the jail’s sick bay to check they don’t have COVID-19, the Daily Mail reported a prison source as saying.
The acting commissioner of corrections in the Bahamas, Doan Cleare, told Eyewitness News that Bankman-Fried was “receiving no special treatment than any other inmate.”
Fox Hill’s sick bay may be an improvement on the rest of the jail but it’s nonetheless a considerable downgrade from Bankman-Fried’s $30 million Bahamas penthouse.
Bankman-Fried arrived in the US on Thursday to face eight criminal charges after waiving his right to challenge extradition from the Bahamas. The New York Times reported that bail conditions including house arrest and electronic monitoring in the US are being discussed.
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
The Bahamas Department of Corrections and Bankman-Fried’s lawyers did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment, sent outside normal working hours.
