Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, mentioned the investigation resulting in fees towards former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had been “very, very fast” however prosecutors have been “not done” with arrests.
In a press convention livestream on Dec. 13, Williams mentioned the timing of the arrest of Bankman-Fried had been based mostly on progress from regulation enforcement officers, who licensed fees on Dec. 7 and indicted the former FTX CEO on Dec. 9, resulting in a warrant being executed in the Bahamas on Dec. 12. An eight-count indictment launched on Dec. 13 revealed U.S. authorities alleged SBF had defrauded clients and traders at FTX, defrauded lenders at Alameda, and violated marketing campaign finance legal guidelines with contributions to each Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
“Bankman-Fried knowingly defrauded customers of FTX through the misappropriation of customer deposits to pay expenses and debts of a different company,” mentioned FBI assistant director in cost Michael Driscoll in the similar press convention. “In addition, Bankman-Fried executed deliberate transactions designed to obscure and disguise the misuse of customer funds. He preyed on his customers, the victims of this case, abusing the trust placed not only in his company but in himself as the lead of that company.”
There will likely be a press convention right now at 2 p.m. to announce the indictment of Samuel Bankman-Fried, founding father of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency change. The press convention will likely be dwell streamed at https://t.co/n1wN6uglOD pic.twitter.com/w3WetP45E6
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 13, 2022
Williams mentioned the investigation in the collapse of FTX was ongoing, hinting at extra bulletins on potential arrests in the future. He referred to as on people who could have been concerned in alleged unlawful actions at FTX and Alameda to “come see us before we come see you.”
“You can commit fraud in shorts and T-shirts in the sun,” mentioned Williams in response to a reporter’s query on SBF becoming the profile of a fraudster. “We are not done. Extradition is ongoing in the Bahamas.”
Williams added:
“This was one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”
Related: SBF’s legal professionals request bail in Bahamas Magistrate Court pending extradition
Complaints from each the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commissions on Dec. 13 adopted the indictment towards Bankman-Fried. The former FTX CEO had been anticipated to testify earlier than a listening to of the House Financial Committee on Dec. 13 previous to his introduced arrest. U.S. lawmakers with the Senate Banking Committee will even discover the collapse of FTX in a Dec. 14 listening to.
