'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABkAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQYQAAEDAwQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIBAwQABhIFCBETISMxAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAxEAAQMEAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgABAwQRUWESIkH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AIW6PSbete64NyhpxPzJwNT3i7yAhdgECD1F5wyEa3EfctFmsNSVs8AV4BcUUn/M054T00pUoKeGSnEiG78n9fDJkMumhxtf/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Sam Bankman Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday, December 12, at the request of the United States government.
The news was confirmed by the US Attorney's Office Southern District of New York on Monday on Twitter. The tweet read:
"USA Damian Williams: Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time."
The 30-year-old former billionaire's arrest comes days after FTX and its affiliated companies declared bankruptcy due to a liquidity crisis in November 2022, a move that shook the cryptocurrency industry.
Sam Bankman Fried and his allies are accused of illegally misusing FTX customer funds to support the crypto-trading company, Alameda Research, which led to the loss of several billion dollars in customer funds.
Sam Bankman Fried was expected to testify before his arrest
Sam Bankman Fried has been giving several public interviews since FTX announced bankruptcy on November 11. He recently revealed to journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin that he was "not trying to commingle funds" between Alameda Research and FTX.
In fact, the 30-year-old personality was supposed to testify on December 13 before the House Financial Services Committee but was arrested. Now, the hearing was scheduled to begin with testimony from FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, who took over for Bankman-Fried and is tasked with guiding the company through the bankruptcy proceedings. As of this writing, no information about the rescheduling of Bankman Fried's appearance has been released.
According to CNBC, Rep. Maxine Waters, who oversees the US House Financial Services, stated that she was "surprised" by Sam Bankman Fried's arrest and is displeased that Congress won't be able to hear from him during the trial.
Waters stated,
“While I am disappointed that we will not be able to hear from Mr. Bankman-Fried tomorrow, we remain committed to getting to the bottom of what happened."
In his previous interviews, Fried had accepted the managerial mistakes of his company but stated that he never broke the law. Ahead of his now-postponed trial, he remarked (via Bloomberg News) on his plight, stating:
“I would like to start by formally stating under oath: I f**ked up.”
The Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis also commented on the arrest of Sam Bankman Fried, stating that the Bahamian government and the United States government have a "shared interest" in "holding accountable" those who have broken the law and played with the public's trust.
“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 the meantime, the Securities and Exchange Commission has begun the process of filing a separate set of charges against Sam Bankman Fried. According to the statement released by the enforcement director, Gurbir Grewal, these charges are related to "violations of our (their) securities laws" and will be made public on December 14 in the Southern District of New York.
