Royal Bahamas Police Force arrests FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The U.S. filed criminal charges against Bankman-Fried, and The Bahamas expects to be asked to extradite him soon.
As a consequence of the notice and the evidence submitted, Attorney General Ryan Pinder sought SBF’s arrest and held him in detention under the Extradition Act. U.S. authorities indicted Bankman-Fried, but the indictment is sealed.
The allegations might include wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal said the agency would also file charges.
We commend our law enforcement partners for working to secure the arrest of Mr. Sam Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas on federal criminal charges,
he added.
The SEC has separately approved securities law breaches charges against Mr. Bankman-Fried, which will be filed tomorrow in the Southern District of New York. Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis stated his nation would continue investigating FTX’s collapse alongside U.S. criminal proceedings.
Bankman-Fried was scheduled to appear Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee. Maxine Waters said she was “surprised” by the U.S. Attorney’s office arrest. Democrat stated that Mr. Bankman-Fried and his attorneys confirmed this afternoon that he planned to appear tomorrow, but he was detained.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said Bankman-Fried was detained at approximately 6 p.m. local time. He was arrested in regard to several Financial Offenses under U.S. statutes (as it is stated in the document). Bankman-Fried appears in Bahamas court on Tuesday. Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, didn’t immediately comment.Â
Background of the Case
Alameda Research, a sibling business formed by Bankman-Fried, controlled a high proportion of FTX’s FTT coins. FTX declared bankruptcy last month. John J. Ray III, FTX’s new CEO, indicated in court papers and Congressional testimony that he had never seen such governance and paperwork problems.
FTX has commingled consumer and company assets, losing billions. In prepared comments, he claimed his new team had secured $1 billion in corporate assets.
Bankman-Fried spoke to The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vox, and other news sites after quitting his organization. Monday, he appeared on Twitter Spaces and Forbes Live.
[…] months of instability, the cryptocurrency industry was dealt another blow when the crypto exchange FTX went bankrupt. Since its all-time high in November 2021, Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has […]