Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has signed documents paving the way for his extradition to the United States, where he faces fraud charges. Proceedings are scheduled to resume on Wednesday in the Bahamas court case he is involved in.
Consequently, the Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested the founder and former CEO of FTX. Sam Bankman-Fried had yet to be the subject of a formal extradition request, but Pinder had already indicated his willingness to handle such a request expeditiously.
Sam Bankman-Fried Is Arrested
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed SBF’s arrest. Sam Bankman-Fried was reportedly arrested by Bahamian authorities based on a sealed indictment scheduled to be made public in the morning. SBF is accused of wire and securities fraud, as well as money laundering, committed by a group of individuals through a prior conspiracy.
The SEC has filed separate charges. Director of Enforcement at the SEC, Gurbir Grewal, stated that the agency had “individually authorized charges related to Bankman-violations Fried’s of securities laws.
Mark Cohen, Bankman-defense Fried’s attorney based in the United States, did not respond to a request for comment. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management failures at FTX, but he believes he is not criminally liable.
The hearing will follow a confusing series of events this week that left the expected extradition of Bankman-Fried uncertain.
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FTX Bankruptcy
Following news reports that he had agreed to be extradited, Bankman-Fried arrived at the courthouse on Monday morning in a black van marked Corrections wearing a blue suit jacket and white shirt, a stark contrast to the casual attire he was known for a while running FTX.
The meeting was subsequently adjourned. According to Doan Cleare, the acting commissioner of Corrections in The Bahamas, Bankman-legal Fried’s documents were not prepared in time for Tuesday morning. According to Cleare, Bankman-Fried signed the papers around noon on Tuesday.
Before FTX’s crash, Bankman-Fried rode a crypto boom to become a multibillionaire and an influential US political donor. However, FTX’s crash wiped out his fortune and tarnished his reputation. The collapse was precipitated by a tidal wave of customer withdrawals in response to concerns regarding the mixing of funds with Alameda.
On November 11, the $32 billion exchange declared bankruptcy, and Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO.
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