On December 12, Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. According to the Office of the Attorney General, the United States filed criminal charges against the disgraced founder, and the Bahamas are expecting a request for extraction.

Image courtesy of 123rf. via The Tokenist

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Bahaman police received a notice from the United States that it had pressed criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX. Due to this information, the country’s authorities decided it was “appropriate” to arrest SBF.

The island nation is expecting the US to soon request the extradition of Bankman-Fried.  The United States confirmed the charges. The indictment is expected to be unsealed on the morning of December 13th.

The arrest was made in the afternoon of December 12th, a day before FTX’s former CEO was scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, albeit remotely.  Earlier on December 12th, the testimony of FTX’s current CEO, John J. Ray III—in which he describes the failures of the company’s previous management, and explains the plans for the future of the company—was also published. 

Last week, the Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters was criticized for simply calling SBF’s presence in Washington “imperative” and not pursuing his testimony before Congress more aggressively. Additionally, today’s arrest represents the first concrete move by authorities in the Bahamas since filing their own chapter 15 bankruptcy for FTX.

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