Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was arrested and taken into custody on Monday by police in the Bahamas.
Why it matters: 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."
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has authorized separate charges.
- A spokesman for Bankman-Fried declined comment.
The big picture: 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.
Thought bubble: 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.
The bottom line: During a Twitter Spaces interview earlier today, Bankman-Fried said, "I don't think I will be arrested." He was wrong.
