{"id":22954,"date":"2022-12-13T05:07:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T05:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/13\/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-arrested-in-bahamas-after-u-s-authorities-file-criminal-charges\/"},"modified":"2022-12-13T05:07:45","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T05:07:45","slug":"ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-arrested-in-bahamas-after-u-s-authorities-file-criminal-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/13\/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-arrested-in-bahamas-after-u-s-authorities-file-criminal-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas after U.S. authorities file criminal charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n
<\/p>\n

\n

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas and will be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges stemming from the sudden implosion of his cryptocurrency exchange last month.<\/p>\n

Authorities in the Bahamas made the arrest after receiving notice from the U.S. that it had filed charges against the 30-year-old and probably would request his extradition, the nation\u2019s government said Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The arrest caps off a stunning fall from grace for Bankman-Fried, who was, until very recently, considered the golden boy and white knight of the crypto world. At one point, he was estimated to be worth $26 billion; now he claims to have just $100,000 left.<\/p>\n

As chief executive of FTX, Bankman-Fried grew the cryptocurrency exchange he founded in 2019 into one of the largest in the world, with more than 1 million users at its peak last year. He was hailed as a positive force and trustworthy spokesperson for the emerging industry, especially as he rescued several failing crypto firms this year.<\/p>\n

But FTX collapsed in spectacular fashion last month when users, worried about the exchange\u2019s solvency, began pulling out their money en masse. That led to a catastrophic fiasco for FTX, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11. At least $1 billion in customer funds has disappeared, according to estimates, and the collapse has triggered a surge in outflows across other global crypto exchanges.<\/p>\n

In a court filing submitted a few days later, its newly installed chief executive, John J. Ray III, a longtime insolvency expert, detailed the disastrous state of financial affairs at the once-heralded company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been the Chief Restructuring Officer or Chief Executive Officer in several of the largest corporate failures in history,\u201d Ray wrote in his declaration<\/a>. \u201cNever in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.\u201d<\/p>\n

FTX and Bankman-Fried are now facing investigations in the U.S. and the Bahamas, where the company is based, into a range of possible fraud.<\/p>\n

One key inquiry concerns whether customer funds were lent to trading firm Alameda Research, which Bankman-Fried also founded. Prosecutors are also examining whether hundreds of millions of dollars were improperly transferred to the Bahamas around the time of FTX\u2019s bankruptcy filing.<\/p>\n

The arrest was made based on a sealed indictment, said Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,\u201d Williams said in a statement posted on Twitter.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterward, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it had authorized separate charges against Bankman-Fried \u201crelating to his violations of securities laws, to be filed publicly tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. But he declined to appear for a hearing with the Senate Banking Committee the day after, prompting lawmakers to condemn his \u201cunprecedented abdication of accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, said she was \u201csurprised\u201d to hear of Bankman-Fried\u2019s arrest given his scheduled appearance the next day. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Mr. Bankman-Fried must be held accountable, the American public deserves to hear directly from Mr. Bankman-Fried about the actions that\u2019ve harmed over one million people, and wiped out the hard-earned life savings of so many,\u201d Waters said in a statement. \u201cThe timing of this arrest denies the public this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bankman-Fried had been on a media blitz in recent weeks, doling out numerous interviews in an effort to explain what happened at FTX.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Monday, during an interview<\/a> on Twitter Spaces, he said he was going to testify before the House remotely, instead of in person, on Tuesday because \u201cthe paparazzi effect is quite large.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you worried you might be detained if you stepped foot into the U.S.?\u201d one of the panelists responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe I would be,\u201d Bankman-Fried said.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg was used in compiling this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n