Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday based on a sealed indictment.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Twitter that Bahamian authorities had made the arrest.
“Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” Williams said. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
Bankman-Fried was expected to testify on Tuesday to a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, which is looking into the collapse of FTX.
The Bahamian government said Monday that it had received notice from U.S. authorities that charges have been filed. once an extradition request has been filed, the Bahamas expects to process it “promptly.”
“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,” said Philip Davis, the prime minister of the Bahamas, in a statement.
He added that the Bahamas would continue to pursue its own investigation into the company.
Since FTX imploded last month, Hollywood has been eager to snap up adaptations of the story, given the success of projects like “The Dropout,” “Inventing Anna” and “WeCrashed.”
Bankman-Fried has given a series of interviews in recent weeks, including one in which George Stephanopoulos asked him if he was worried about going to jail.
“There are a lot of things that are worrying me right now,” Bankman-Fried said. “As best as possible I’m trying to focus on what I can do going forward to be helpful, and let whatever regulatory and legal processes play out as they will.”
