NASSAU, Bahamas — Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of crypto giant FTX, was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force yesterday and will likely face extradition to the United States, Attorney General Ryan Pinder announced, The Tribune announced on Tuesday, December 13, in an article written by Leandra Rolle.
In a statement issued last night, Senator Pinder said Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) arrest “followed receipt of formal notification from the United States that it has filed criminal charges against SBF and is likely to request his extradition”.
He added: “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.
“At such time as a formal request for extradition is made, The Bahamas intends to process it promptly, pursuant to Bahamian law and its treaty obligations with the United States.”
Responding to the former billionaire’s arrest, Prime Minister Philip Davis said The Bahamas will continue to investigate Mr Bankman-Fried.
“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. While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere,” Mr Davis said.
The arrest came as a result of a sealed indictment from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
“Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the US 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,” Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Twitter yesterday.
FTX, Alameda Research, and “dozens other affiliated companies” filed a bankruptcy petition in Delaware last month after facing a liquidity crisis.
FTX Digital Markets, which is headquartered in The Bahamas, is the Bahamian subsidiary of FTX Trading Ltd, the owner and operator of FTX.
The firm’s collapse is currently being investigated by local and international law enforcement agencies, who are probing the handling of FTX customers’ funds. See complete article in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/dec/13/ftx-founder-arrested-us-expected-seek-extradition/
