FTX’s Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas as US files charges | Crypto

Cryptocurrency exchange founder’s arrest comes hours after he said he would testify before the United States Congress.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been arrested in the Bahamas after US authorities filed criminal charges against him.

Bankman-Fried was arrested by authorities in the Caribbean nation after US prosecutors notified them they had filed charges and would likely seek his extradition, the Office of the Attorney General of the Bahamas said in a statement on Monday.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed Bankman-Fried’s arrest but declined to comment on the nature of the charges.

“Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the US Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York,” prosecutor Damian Williams said in a statement.

“We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”

The charges against Bankman-Fried include wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering, the New York Times reported, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the matter.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyer Mark Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bankman-Fried’s arrest came just hours after he said he would on Tuesday testify remotely about the collapse of FTX before the US Congress.

FTX filed for bankruptcy protection last month after the collapse of an acquisition deal involving rival exchange Binance. The collapse of the crypto exchange, which was valued at $32bn at its peak, sent shockwaves through the crypto sector, triggering mass layoffs and accusations of fraud.

Bankman-Fried, who was once ranked as the world’s second-richest millennial after Mark Zuckerberg, has admitted making a “lot of mistakes” in his handling of the collapse, but denied any intention to commit fraud.