Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested today by the Royal Bahamas Police Force following reports that the United States has filed criminal charges against him.
The Office of the Attorney General of the Bahamas confirmed the arrest in a statement, saying that Bankman-Fried will be held in custody pending a formal request for extradition from the US.
The statement adds that if such a request is made, it will be “in accordance with the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and The Bahamas.”
It is unclear what charges Bankman-Fried is facing in the US. However, FTX has said in a statement that it is not related to the charges and that it is cooperating with law enforcement.
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said, “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.”
The office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, has confirmed the arrest of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. The arrest was made “at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” according to Williams’ office. The SDNY also tweeted that they expect to unseal the indictment in the morning.
Bankman-Fried was scheduled to appear tomorrow as a witness before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, as reported earlier today by TechCrunch’s Jacquelyn Melinek. The committee is investigating the events that led to FTX’s bankruptcy filing last month, which resulted in Bankman-Fried stepping down as CEO.
Bankman-Fried is reportedly under investigation by U.S. regulators for the $10 billion transfer of FTX client funds to his affiliated trading firm Alameda Research. The transfer was allegedly made without the knowledge or consent of FTX clients, and the funds were then used for trading activities by Alameda Research.
According to a statement from U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Pat Toomey, Bankman-Fried has refused to testify in front of the Senate Banking Committee, and his lawyers have refused to accept a subpoena. Bankman-Fried has maintained that the transfer of funds was a misreading of “confusing internal labeling.” The senators have requested that Bankman-Fried come forward to provide testimony.