LONDON (Bywire News) - Former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has made a bail application before the Bahamas Supreme Court, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The application comes after Bankman-Fried was denied bail on Tuesday by a magistrate judge, who had ordered him to remain in a Bahamas detention center while he awaits a hearing on his extradition to the United States.
It is alleged that Bankman-Fried was engaged in a scheme to defraud FTX's customers by misappropriating their deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments on behalf of his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC.
The source, who asked not to be identified, said the application was made on Thursday and will be heard on January 17.
Bankman-Fried, who had amassed a fortune valued over $20 billion as he rode a cryptocurrency boom to build FTX into one of the world's largest exchanges, is facing charges of financial crimes in the U.S.
He has yet to enter a plea but denies all of the charges against him.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington and Michael O'Sullivan in London)