Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force Authorities a few hours ago. The ex-CEO of FTX has been charged by the US court with money laundering, wire fraud, and bank fraud, which could possibly result in a life sentence in prison, according to New York Times.
FTX, which was responsible for the bankruptcy of almost 130 companies after its executives along with SBF fled to the scene, leaving the crypto market vulnerable, has now finally been brought to US land by the Bahamas Authorities. The arrest was officially announced by the Bahamas Attorney General, Sen. Ryan Pinder KC.
“The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX,” the country’s PM Philip Davis said in a statement.
He also added that the country’s authorities will also be probing the case separately based on its own “regulatory and criminal investigations” over the collapse of FTX.
SBF and the executives were actively part of committing fraud and exploiting the customers’ funds for personal expenses. Evidence presented shows Alameda Research was given permission to borrow FTX customers’ funds without any limits.
On the other hand, Australian Financial Times reports there was a separate group on Signal called “Wirefraud” consisting of co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang, engineer Nishad Singh, the CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison, and more.
The arrest warrant to the Bahamas was sent just a while ago in a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. Now, SBF is scheduled to appear before Congress tomorrow where he will testify for his charges and then will be indicted by the court.
