In the words of US Attorney Davis 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.”
Sam Bankman-Fried, the Founder and Ex CEO of FTX, was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force after US lawmakers filed criminal charges against him.
Once the US officials formally request to extradite SBF, the Bahamas will comply with their demands. Prime Minister Philip Davis said the Bahamian authorities will continue to investigate FTX’s collapse.
Last week, Sam Bankman agreed to testify remotely before the Senate Banking Committee on December 13. According to him, it was “[difficult] to move right now and travel because the paparazzi effect is quite large.” It is unclear how SBF will make an appearance at the hearing scheduled for Tuesday following his arrest.
Investigations into FTX’s operations also revealed that politicians received significant donations from the exchange before it filed for bankruptcy. Bloomberg reported that the lawyers overseeing the FTX bankruptcy case seek to claw back political donations worth $73M.
Meanwhile, FTX’s current CEO, John J. Ray III, released a testimony ahead of his appearance before the Senate Banking Committee. He noted that they have identified several “unacceptable management practices” at the FTX Group, adding,
“We have a fact-finding process in place, and we will seek information from Mr. Bankman-Fried and others through that process, as appropriate.”
