Sam Bankman-Fried, Former FTX CEO, , Arrested in Bahamas.
CBS News reports that the Office of the Attorney General of the Bahamas confirmed Bankman-Fried's arrest on Dec. 12.
His 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.".
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the arrest
was carried out based on a sealed indictment. .
Following news of Bankman-Fried's arrest, the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it had , "authorized separate charges relating to [Bankman-Fried's] violations of securities laws
to be filed publicly tomorrow in SDNY.".
The SEC alleges that the former CEO used customer funds for "fraudulent" purposes such as real estate transactions and political donations.
CBS News reports that Bankman-Fried has since been taken off the witness list for the House hearing on Dec. 13 regarding FTX's collapse.
He will instead
appear in court in the
Bahamas on that day.
Prior to its collapse, FTX was one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. .
New CEO John Ray III has been
tasked with salvaging the company.
Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here, John Ray III, FTX CEO, via statement