Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force following reports that the United States has filed criminal charges against the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and is likely to seek his extradition.
The Bahamas Attorney General’s Office released a statement today, which was reported by BNO and other news outlets, that he would keep Bankman-Fried in custody until a “formal request for his extradition is made.”
In a statement, Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said, “The Bahamas and the United States have a common interest in holding accountable anyone associated with FTX who may have betrayed public trust and broken the law. . While the United States individually pursues criminal charges against SBF, The Bahamas will pursue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere.
The Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams confirmed the arrest and the fact that it was done “at the request of the U.S. government, based on a sealed indictment filed by SDNY.” In a tweet, the SDNY office added, “We expect to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say then.”
The former billionaire has been program at bear witness tomorrow as a witness before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, TechCrunch’s Jacquelyn Melinek reported earlier today. The committee investigates the events that led to the implosion of FTX, which resulted in the crypto exchange bankruptcy filing last month and Bankman-Fried was forced to step down as chief executive.
As TechCrunch previously reported, Reuters reported last month that Bankman-Fried secretly transferred $10 billion in FTX client funds to affiliate trading firm Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried told the publication that transferring the funds was a misinterpretation of “confusing internal labeling.” He has repeatedly claimed that he is unaware of any wrongdoing.
Axios reported earlier today that Bankman-Fried “continues to refuse to testify before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and his attorneys refuse to accept a subpoena,” according to a new statement from the senses. Sherrod Brown and Pat Toomey.
This is a developing story. TechCrunch reporter Amanda Silberling contributed to this article.
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