Former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested in the Bahamas.
via: Axios
This appears to set up an extradition of Bankman-Fried to the U.S., as the Bahamian attorney general’s office says it received notice of a U.S. criminal complaint and “likely” extradition request.
In a subsequent statement, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York tweeted: “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. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
USA Damian Williams: 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. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 12, 2022
The arrest and indictment news comes just hours before Bankman-Fried is scheduled to testify remotely in a House Financial Services Committee hearing on FTX’s collapse.
He has declined a similar request from the Senate Banking Committee and has avoided being served a subpoena.
The timing is surprising, given that prosecutors could have had sworn testimony from Bankman-Fried had they waited just 24 hours. Expect to learn more when the indictment is unsealed, including if there were exigent circumstances (e.g., movement of funds) or if the indictment was unsealed well before the arrest was made.
During a Twitter Spaces interview earlier today, Bankman-Fried said, “I don’t think I will be arrested.” He was wrong.
