Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Dec. 12 on criminal charges by U.S. prosecutors.
The incident marked the downfall of the 30-year-old businessman, who fueled the cryptocurrency boom and created one of the world’s largest exchanges, according to Reuters. gender.
A year ago, Forbes magazine estimated Bankman-Fried’s net worth at $26.5 billion.
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX launched in 2019 and is based in the Bahamas. The company filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, and FTX had previously struggled to raise enough capital to deal with traders rushing to withdraw $6 billion from the platform in just 72 hours.
The Bahamas Attorney General’s Office said it arrested FTX after receiving official confirmation of Bankman-Fried’s charges, adding that the FTX founder is expected to be impeached. take away. degree to the US.
On the same day, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a separate securities law violation lawsuit against Mr. Bankman-Fried.
“The SEC has filed charges against Mr. Bankman-Fried for violations of our securities laws. The charges will be filed publicly tomorrow (13-12 U.S. time) in the Southern District of New York,” said SEC official Gurbir Grewal.
At the same time, the Bahamas police stated that Mr. Bankman-Fried was arrested at his home in Albany, Nassau, Bahamas just after 6 pm local time on December 12 (that is, 6 am on December 13, Vietnamese time).
“He was arrested for multiple violations of the laws of the United States of America as well as the laws of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas,” police said in a statement.
The Bahamas also said Mr Bankman-Fried will appear in Nassau District Court on December 13.
Mark Cohen, an attorney for Mr. Bankman-Fried, did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Bankman-Fried was arrested as the country’s justice ministry investigates allegations against industry-leading exchange Binance, which already has a strong reputation in the cryptocurrency space.