Sam Bankman-Fried Has Been Arrested Over FTX’s $32 billion Meltdown

According to a statement from the Bahamas Attorney General and the Southern District of New York, the disgraced 30-year-old former CEO of FTX that was worth $32billion a few weeks ago, and founder of Alameda Research, Sam Bankman-Fried has criminal charges filed against him by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday.

Related: FTX’S BANKMAN-FRIED TO FACE MARKET EXPLOITATION INQUIRY BY U.S. PROSECUTORS

Before the United States, the Attorney for the Southern District of New York shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamian regulator, setting the stage for extradition, SBF was expected to virtually testify about the failed digital asset exchange before the House Financial Services Committee.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas pic.twitter.com/HQ2OKJ6kEH

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 12, 2022

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a statement “on Monday night that it separately authorized charges relating to Mr. Bankman-Fried’s violations of securities laws, which will be filed publicly today in the Southern District of New York.

It’s questionable why Bankman-Fried was the only member of his inner circle named in the indictment. The circle of roomies included Caroline Ellison the Alameda Research CEO who is also a former romantic partner of Bankman-Fried’s and FTX co-founder Gary Wang “ the group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals” says the new CEO of the failed crypto exchange John J. Ray III.

Caroline Ellison is reportedly being represented by Stephanie Akavian in the investigation, a former top crypto regulator for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Caroline was cited in New York City far from the Hong Kong headquarters of the now-bankrupt financial firm. The sighting set off speculation that she was cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Since FTX went bust early last month after Sam-Bankman Fried allegedly mixed funds from the exchange with its trading house, Alameda Research which he also founded on November 2017, SBF has been under close supervision in his mansion in the Bahamas. Both of his companies are now bankrupt with billions of dollars worth of debt on the books.

The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law says Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis in a tweet.

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.

— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 12, 2022

FTX’s attorneys and Bahamian regulators had been engaged in a bruising wordy battle in chambers and in the court of public opinion. On Monday, FTX attorneys accused the Bahamian government of conspiring with Bankman-Fried to spirit away FTX assets from company control and into crypto wallets controlled by Bahamian regulators.