FTX's Founder Sam Banman-Fried Apprehended in the Bahamas

Fazzaco learned that a few hours ago, Bahamian Attorney-General Ryan Pinder announced that the country's police force arrested Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, after receiving criminal accusations filed by US authorities. Pinder further pointed out in the statement that the US is likely to request an extradition of SBF.

The arrest was confirmed on Twitter by the Southern District of New York, which is investigating SBF and the collapse of FTX and its sibling trading business Alameda.

"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," wrote US attorney Damian Williams. "We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time."

In response to the arrest of the former crypto tycoon, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis stated that the Caribbean country and the US share a common interest in holding accountable persons affiliated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law.

The prime minister stated that the Bahamas' regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX will continue.

The US authorities, however, have made no further comments at the time of writing.

Go to Fazzaco's FTX feature, "FTX Collapse: Shock and Aftermath"​, to learn more about the most violent upheaval that has happened to the cryptocurrency community in the year of 2022.