FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested In Bahamas

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas as US filed criminal charges against him.

FTX – FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas as the United States filed criminal charges against him.

FTX founder SBF
Photo source: Mashable ME

On Monday evening (Eastern Standard Time), Sam Bankman-Fried (also known as SBF) was arrested by Bahamian authorities after the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamian government, setting the stage for extradition and US trial for him at the heart of FTX’s collapse.

According to Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder, SBF’s arrest followed receipt of formal notification from US that it has filed criminal charges against him and was “likely to request his extradition”.

The Royal Bahamas police force confirmed SBF’s arrest and said that he would appear in magistrate court in Nassau on Tuesday (EST).

The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law,” Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement.

Bahamas

CNBC reported that SBF’s arrest was the first concrete move by regulators to hold individuals accountable for the multibillion-dollar implosion of FTX crypto exchange last month.

READ ALSO: Sam Bankman-Fried Steps Down As FTX CEO

Before his arrest was announced, SBF had been expected to testify virtually before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday (EST). However, his attorneys told CNBC that he will not appear.

Representative Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who oversees that committee, said she’s “surprised” at SBF’s arrest and disappointed that Congress wouldn’t be able to hear from him on Tuesday.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams tweeted that the Federal government anticipated moving to “unseal the indictment in the morning.”

Citing a person familiar with the matter, the New York Times reported that the charges include the following: wire fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud conspiracy, and money laundering.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal said in a statement that the SEC has initiated a separate set of charges against SBF, relating to “violations of our securities laws, which will be filed publicly tomorrow in the Southern District of New York”.

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