Authorities in the Bahamas have arrested Sam Bankman Fried at the request from the U.S government. This was just a day before disgraced former CEO of FTX was due to testify in front of Congress.
Bankman-Fried was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force following a formal notification from the United States government that it has filed criminal charges against him, according to a Dec. 12 statement from the Bahamas Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Ryan Pinder.
The New York Times cites a person who has knowledge about the subject reported On December 12, Bankman-Fried was formally charged with wire, securities fraud, conspiracy for wire and security fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire, securities fraud.
The U.S. will likely request the extradition of Bankman-Fried, with Pinder stating that the Bahamas will “promptly” process any extradition request.
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis stated in a statement that the two countries share “a common interest” in holding accountable all those associated with FTX who might have betrayed public trust or broken the law.
A Dec. 12 tweet from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said authorities in the Bahamas arrested Bankman-Fried based on a sealed indictment it filed that it plans to unseal “in the morning.”
USA Damian Williams: Bahamian authorities have arrested Samuel Bankman Fried earlier this evening at the request the U.S. Government. This was based on a sealed SDNY indictment. We will be able to open the indictment and have more to share with you tomorrow morning.
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 12, 2022
Bloomberg reported on Dec. 10 that prosecutors from New York, FBI agents and regulators met with FTX’s lawyers to discuss the documentation that investigators want to obtain.
Related: SBF attempted to destabilize the crypto market in order to save FTX:
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), was “closely investigating” whether FTX had improperly transferred hundreds of thousands at the same moment that FTX declared bankruptcy on Nov. 11.
Bahamian authorities were similarly undertaking their own “active and ongoing” investigation into FTX as announced on Nov. 27 by Pinder that involved the country’s Securities Commission, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the police’s financial crimes unit.
Bankman-Fried’s arrest comes a day before he was expected to appear remotely to testify before the House Committee on Financial Services in a hearing investigating the collapse of the exchange.
