Status: 22.12.2022 8:31 a.m
The founder of insolvent crypto exchange FTX has been extradited from the Bahamas to the United States. Sam Bankman-Fried is to be tried there. Former business partners have meanwhile admitted allegations.
Former FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been extradited from the Bahamas to the United States. There he is to be put on trial for fraud in connection with the bankruptcy of the trading platform for digital currencies. If convicted, Bankman-Fried faces a life sentence in the United States.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in mid-December at the request of US authorities in the Bahamas. The 30-year-old has waived his right to contest the extradition, it said.
Alleged billions in damage
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Bankman-Fried with fraud. The authority accuses the entrepreneur of misleading investors with false promises and embezzling their funds to buy real estate for himself and his family. It’s more than $1.8 billion.
Bankman-Fried’s company FTX – at one time the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency trading platform – collapsed after many customers lost confidence in the company and wanted to withdraw funds on a large scale. However, the provider did not pay out billions in customer funds. Bankman-Fried was considered an exception in the crypto industry and was celebrated on the front pages of US business media such as “Fortune” just a few months ago.
Business partners plead guilty
Meanwhile, in the US, two of Bankman-Fried’s business partners have pleaded guilty to allegations related to the FTX bankruptcy. The agreements with the prosecutor’s office were signed on Monday but were not announced until Bankman-Fried was on his way to the United States.
Carolyn Elison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm founded by Bankman-Fried, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have admitted allegations “related to their roles in the scam that helped FTX collapse.” This was announced by US Attorney Damian Williams last night.