Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested by authorities in the Bahamas at the request of the US government, just one day before the disgraced former CEO of FTX was to testify before Congress.
Bankman-Fried was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force following formal notification from the United States government that criminal charges had been filed against him, according to a December 12 statement from the Attorney General (AG) and the Bahamian Minister of Legal Affairs, Ryan Pinder.
Citing a person with knowledge of the matter, The New York Times reported on December 12 that the charges against Bankman-Fried include wire and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, and money laundering,
United States probably request extradition of Bankman-Fried, with Pinder stating that the Bahamas will โpromptlyโ process any extradition request.
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement that both countries have "a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed public trust and violated the law."
A December 12 tweet from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried based on a sealed indictment she filed and plans to unseal "in the morning."
USA Damian Williams: Earlier tonight, authorities in the Bahamas arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the US government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We hope to move forward with unsealing the allegation in the morning and will have more to say at that time.
โ US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 12, 2022
Bloomberg reported on December 10 that New York prosecutors, FBI agents and regulators met with FTX lawyers to discuss the documentation investigators want to obtain.
Related: SBF Tried To Destabilize Crypto Market To Save FTX: Report
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was "closely" examining if FTX improperly transferred hundreds of millions around the same time the company filed for bankruptcy on November 11.
Bahamian authorities they were undertaking in a similar way its own "active and ongoing" investigation into FTX as Pinder announced on November 27 that involved the country's Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the financial crimes unit of the police.
Bankman-Fried's arrest comes a day before he was is expected to appear remotely to testify before the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing investigating the collapse of the exchange.
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