The government of the Bahamas says Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested Monday after it received word that the U.S. had filed charges against him and was likely to seek his extradition.
Company filed for bankruptcy in November as traders rushed to recover billions in investments
Police in the Bahamas have arrested former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the country’s attorney general said on Monday, adding that the Bahamas has received formal notification from the United States of criminal charges against him.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan confirmed the cryptocurrency exchange founder had been arrested in the Bahamas but declined to comment on what the charges were.
“As a result of the notification received and the material provided therewith, it was deemed appropriate for the attorney general to seek SBF’s arrest and hold him in custody pursuant to our nation’s extradition act,” the office of The Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder said.
On 12 December 2022, the Office of the Attorney General of The Bahamas is announcing the arrest by The Royal Bahamas Police Force of Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”), former CEO of FTX. <a href=”https://t.co/CRNeLPAbVp”>pic.twitter.com/CRNeLPAbVp</a>
—@latraelrahming
FTX filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection last month and Bankman-Fried resigned as the company’s CEO as investors rushed to pull billions of dollars out of the crypto exchange.
Bankman-Fried had been scheduled to testify remotely Tuesday at a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing examining the company’s collapse.
More to come