After weeks of speculation, the U.S. Department of Justice has officially filed criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO and founder of FTX. Bankman-Fried was arrested on Monday in the Bahamas related to charges by U.S. officials.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams posted on Twitter that the indictment would be unsealed Tuesday morning. Citing a person with knowledge of the matter, the New York Times reports that prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have charged Bankman-Fried with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, and money laundering.
Bankman-Fried was the only member of the FTX inner circle—which included Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and SBF's former girlfriend, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang—named in the indictment.
Beyond the Justice Department charges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also preparing to file its case against Bankman-Fried tomorrow.
The disgraced former CEO was expected to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services the day after his arrest but rejected a call to testify before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday. Both hearings are likely to proceed without him.
Several agencies have opened investigations into FTX and its former CEO, including the Justice Department, SEC, CFTC, and a number of U.S. state regulatory agencies. If convicted of wire fraud alone, Bankman-Fried faces up to twenty years in federal prison.
See related article: What Media Has Sam Bankman-Fried Invested in Other Than The Block? Here Is a List
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