Sam Bankman-Fried, the fallen cryptocurrency star and former boss of the FTX platform, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday at the request of US authorities, announced Damian Williams, a New York prosecutor.
“We will have more information to give on the indictment” Tuesday morning, he said in a tweet, without further details on the nature of the charges.
Sam Bankman-Fried has been making media appearances for a month, despite the risk of a lawsuit for fraud following the spectacular implosion of the company, valued at 32 billion dollars at the start of the year.
The United States has “filed a complaint” once morest the 30-year-old, who resides in the Bahamas, and “will probably request his extradition”, explained the Attorney General of the Bahamas, Ryan Pinder, in a press release relayed on Twitter.
An investigation will be conducted in the Bahamas
Both countries “have an interest in holding accountable individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law,” said Philip Davis, the premier of the northern archipelago. -eastern Cuba.
The Bahamas will conduct its own “criminal investigation into the collapse of FTX,” he added, quoted in the statement.
In the United States, “if he is convicted of fraud, he might spend the rest of his life in prison, given the amount”, estimates Jacob Frenkel, of the firm Dickinson Wright.
“There would be no indictment if the prosecutors were not absolutely convinced that they will obtain a conviction,” added this specialist in federal investigations, who worked for the American stock market policeman (SEC).
A lack of experience pointed out
Sam Bankman-Fried was supposed to speak before a House of Representatives committee on Tuesday, as was John Ray, the new boss of FTX.
The ex-executives of the bankrupt platform have shown a “complete failure” at all levels of control, spending without really counting the money of their customers, said Monday John Ray, in a document published the day before. hearing in Congress.
At first glance, “the collapse of the FTX group appears to be the result of the absolute concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals who have not implemented any of the systems or controls required for a company entrusted with other people’s money or assets,” the official said.
Considered one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX was suddenly unable to return the money they had deposited there to its customers in early November. The group announced its bankruptcy filing on November 11.
afp/ther
