Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested in The Bahamas

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York confirms a sealed indictment against the former FTX CEO

article-image

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried | Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

Bahamian authorities have arrested disgraced former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried at the request of the US government, according to the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications, Latrae Rahming.

Bankman-Fried will be held in custody in accordance with the Bahamas Extradition Act, according to a document from the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs.

Loading Tweet..

Rahming’s office could not be reached by phone, and did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Royal Bahamas Police Force officers arrested Bankman-Fried shortly after 6:00 p.m. ET at his apartment complex, Nassau Police Headquarters said in a statement shared with Blockworks. He is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement, “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.”

Members of the public whose assets are now part of bankruptcy proceedings in multiple jurisdictions may welcome accountability, but they are no closer to seeing the return of funds lost on the exchange.

“The resolution of this matter will be an important step in the maturation of the digital asset industry and will hopefully serve as a catalyst for congress to develop laws to effectively regulate the industry,” Jeffrey Blockinger, General Counsel at Quadrata, a blockchain identity platform, told Blockworks.

The arrest comes as a result of a sealed indictment filed by the Southern District of New York (SDNY), according to a tweet citing a statement by US Attorney Damian Williams.

Loading Tweet..

Followers of the FTX saga were eager to hear from the former CEO, who was expected to testify remotely in a Congressional hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Bankman-Fried revealed he was still in the Bahamas, while answering questions on a Twitter space, Monday. It’s not yet known whether he will be called to testify after his arrest.

Bankman-Fried had been asked by the Senate Banking Committee to testify at a Wednesday hearing about his collapsed company, but refused to do so, according to the committee.  Pat Toomey and Sen. Sherrod Brown threatened to Subpoena Bankman-Fried if he opted not to appear.

Bankman-Fried will be represented in court by former assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of New York Mark S. Cohen.

This story was last updated on Dec. 12, 2022, at 9:40 p.m. ET.

Ornella Hernandez contributed reporting.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (6).png

Research

In recent months, a number of highly accretive developments were implemented across the protocol to improve fee capture, expand product functionality, and ultimately drive value accrual to the RUNE token, with more upgrades on the immediate horizon. These developments include hiking the minimum swap fee parameter to increase revenue, adding a Burn System Income Lever to reduce the RUNE supply, the addition of COSM-WASM smart contracting and IBC to enable an application layer, new chain integrations, and more.

article-image

Former IRS agent and Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan will remain imprisoned in Nigeria’s Kuje prison

article-image

When Permissionless III wraps on Friday, there will be 26 days left until the 2024 presidential election

article-image

Plus, an update from the ground in Salt Lake City at Permissionless III

article-image

The US regulator accused the crypto market-making firm of acting as an unregistered dealer

article-image

Customers can pay merchants in USDC or USDP on Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, while US-based merchants are paid in dollars