FTX Founder Arrested at US Government’s Request
- Founder of bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been arrested in the Bahamas by the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
- The Bahamian government arrested SBF after receiving a note from the US government, which has filed criminal charges against him.
- SBF will be extradited to the US soil as he is supposed to be present before Congress for a hearing on Dec. 13.
- The indictment charges SBF of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
Sam Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF in the crypto space, has been arrested at the request of authorities in the United States. The crypto entrepreneur has been arrested in the Bahamas by the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the national law enforcement agency of the Commonwealth, after receiving a note from the US government, which has filed criminal charges against the founder of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX.
“S.B.F.’s arrest followed receipt of formal notification from the United States that it has filed criminal charges against S.B.F. and is likely to request his extradition,” a statement from the Bahamian government said.
Bankman-Fried has been arrested just a day before he was supposed to testify before the US Congress regarding the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX and the practices and relations of the exchange with sister trading company Alameda Research. Interestingly, the former billionaire stated that he doesn’t have access to his data and there isn’t much that he’ll be able to tell the authorities. He also tweeted on December 9 that he would not be of much help to the authorities.
According to a Dec. 12 statement from the Bahamas Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Ryan Pinder, the US regulators have filed criminal charges against the FTX founder and therefore, he will be extradited to American lands following arrest.
As per a Dec. 12 Twitter post from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the former FTX executive was arrested in the Bahamas based on a sealed indictment, which the authorities plan to open “in the morning.”
“Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,” said US Attorney General, Damian Williams.
It is also crucial to note that as per The New York Times report on Dec. 12, Bankman-Fried is the only person charged in the indictment. The charges included wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering, according to a person with the knowledge of the matter.
Additionally, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has authorized separate charges relating to SBF’s violations of securities laws, to be filed publicly on December 13 in Southern District of New York.
“We commend our law enforcement partners for securing the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried on federal criminal charges. The SEC has authorized separate charges relating to his violations of securities laws, to be filed publicly tomorrow in SDNY,” said Gurbir Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
As earlier reported by Bitcoinwisdom, the founder of FTX has accepted mismanagement of customers funds at the exchange and Alameda with billions remaining unaccounted for. Kevin O’Leary, an investor and “Shark Tank” judge recently confirmed that he had lost all his crypto money in FTX.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
