Summary:
- Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York filed criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried on Tuesday.
- The unseal indictment order detailed eight counts including fraud, conspiracy, and violation of U.S. Campaign Finance Laws.
- Other authorities like the CFTC and SEC filed charges against Bankman-Fried following his arrest by Bahamian law enforcement.
The United States of America charged FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried on eight counts including in the Southern District of New York. United States Attorney Damian Williams previously announced SBF’s arrest in the Bahamas ahead of formal criminal charges.
An indictment document unsealed on Tuesday revealed eight charges against SBF built around the operations of crypto exchange FTX, and Alameda research.
The Counts Against Sam Bankman-Fried
- Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud on Customers
- Wire Fraud on Customers
- Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud on Lenders
- Wire Fraud on Lenders
- Conspiracy to Commit Commodities Fraud
- Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud
- Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering
- Conspiracy to Defraud the United State of America and Violate the Campaign Finance Laws
The indictment means that Federal prosecutors have evidence that Sam Bankman-Fried used deceived customers and investors alike. U.S. Attorneys filed that SBF used customer funds from the FTX exchange to finance Alameda’s trading position and loan obligations. This means that customer deposits and assets were exposed to substantial losses worth billions.
Bankman-Fried notably denied defrauding customers of their crypto assets during several public interviews. SBF also claimed that Alameda had limited access to assets deposited on the FTX exchange.
U.S. prosecutors filed that Bankman-Fried knowingly comingled funds between FTX deposits and Alameda.
BANKMAN-FRIED agreed with others to defraud customers of FTX.com by misappropriating those customers’ deposits and using those deposits to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research, BANKHAN- FRIED’s proprietary crypto hedge fund, and to make investments.
FTX CEO John Ray’s scathing testimony before House Committee on Financial Services echoed concerns from users and authorities alike that FTX, under SBF’s leadership, funded Alameda with stolen FTX user deposits. SBF was scheduled to testify at the same hearing prior to his arrest.
Authorities Crackdown On Sam Bankman-Fried
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Southern District of New York (SDNY) have both charged Sam Bankman-Fried for the collapse of FTX. Another regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced a lawsuit against the former crypto billionaire.
SBF was arrested in the Bahamas on Tuesday. At press time, it’s unclear if or when extradition to American soil will happen.
