Crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas

by Staff Writer 13-12-2022 | 6:02 PM

Colombo (News 1st) - Bahamas police on Monday (12th) arrested Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of FTX, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, which failed spectacularly, leading to the loss of billions of dollars of money invested by more than a million people, foreign media reported.

On Tuesday (13th) the US Securities and Exchange Commission also filed charges of fraud against Bankman-Fried.

The arrest came on a request by the Southern District of New York, which is considering a host of charges including wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering. Investigators believe FTX collapsed after Bankman-Fried siphoned off over USD 10 billion to another of his companies - the hedge fund Alameda Research.

The fall of FTX has panicked investors and led to a crash in other cryptocurrencies around the world.