Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been formally indicted on charges of fraud, money laundering and others. The unsealed document reveals eight charges from the United States Southern District Court of New York, including:
- 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
- And conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Campaign Finance Laws.
This follows Bankman-Fried’s arrest on the night of December 12 in the Bahamas by local authorities, after they had received notification from the U.S. that it had filed criminal charges against SBF.
SBF was also charged with defrauding investors by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging that he diverted customer funds from FTX to Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research fund while simultaneously raising $1.8 billion with investors.
In addition to the SEC and N.Y. Southern District Court’s charges, the CFTC also filed charges against SBF, Alameda Research and FTX for “fraud and material misrepresentations in connection with the sale of digital commodities.”
The collapse of FTX led to billions of dollars of lost customer funds which have yet to be recovered, and there is no guarantee that will happen. Both FTX and Alameda Research fund are undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Today’s unsealed indictment shows that the Department of Justice is seeking any profits Bankman-Fried received from these ventures.
The House Financial Services Committee has commenced its investigation into the collapse of FTX, with the current CEO testifying. Bankman-Fried appeared this morning in front of Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt in Nassau, during which he told the judge that he had not yet had the chance to speak to his lawyer.