FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas
The former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been detained in The Bahamas.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, was detained on December 12 by The Royal Bahamas Police Force, according to a statement from the Bahamas Office of the Attorney General.
Sam Bankman-Fried was apprehended after the United States officially informed him that it had charged Bankman-Fried with a crime and would probably ask for his extradition.
The Attorney General decided that it was necessary to pursue his arrest and hold him in jail in accordance with the Extradition Act of the Bahamas as a consequence of the notification received and the information submitted therewith.
In accordance with Bahamian law and its requirements under its treaty commitments with the United States, The Bahamas expects to process any formal requests for extradition as soon as they are submitted.
After Sam Bankman-Fried was taken into custody, Prime Minister Philip Davis said:
Holding responsible any FTX associates who may have betrayed public trust or violated the law is in the interest of both the Bahamas and the United States.
With the ongoing assistance of its law enforcement and regulatory allies in the US and other countries, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the demise of FTX while the US is pursuing criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried on an individual basis.
International news outlets reported on November 11 that troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX has filed for bankruptcy after collapsing.
Since then, authorities have been looking into FTX and its former CEO.
