Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested in the Bahamas, Will Be Extradited to the U.S.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the collapsed crypto firm FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday after the United States Department of Justice revealed it has filed criminal charges against him.

Last week, he agreed to testify before Congress about the downfall of his company, which is currently in bankruptcy proceedings. The company lost billions in customer funds and is alleged to have funneled clients’ money to a firm called Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading company.

According to the New York Times, Bankman-Fried faces charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, and money laundering.

The Bahamas announced Bankman-Fried’s arrest and intention to extradite him to the U.S. in a statement:

On 12 December 2022, the Office of the Attorney General of The Bahamas is announcing the arrest by The Royal Bahamas Police Force of Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”), former CEO of FTX. SBF’s arrest followed receipt of formal notification from the United States that it has filed criminal charges against SBF and is likely to request his extradition.

As a result of the notification received and the material provided therewith, it was deemed appropriate for the Attorney General to seek SBF’s arrest and hold him in custody pursuant to our nation’s Extradition Act.
At such time as a formal request for extradition is made, The Bahamas intends to process it promptly, pursuant to Bahamian law and its treaty obligations with the United States.

Responding to SBF’s arrest, Prime Minister Davis stated, “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. While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue 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.”

In a statement on Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced it will unseal the indictment against Bankman-Fried on Tuesday morning.

This is a developing story.