Sam Bankman-Fried Arrested, Charged by Multiple US Agencies
CRYPTOCURRENCY — The mystery of FTX’s former Founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) fate has now unraveled. For quite some time, many speculated that the elusive yet media-present 30-year-old crypto personality would evade any major legal prosecution as nothing seems to be done to him. After all, he could travel to the Bahamas, attend numerous interviews, and quite literally walk in the streets while his company was undertaking a messy bankruptcy process. Moreover, thousands of depositors and investors were left in the abyss with no apparent prospect of getting their money back or, at the very least, justice.
A Swift Turn of Events
In the midst of SBF’s seemingly countless lined-up media interviews, an unexpected arrest brought by joint action from three different US government agencies stunned everyone, including SBF himself. The three US agencies filed a barrage of legal charges ranging from simple campaign finance violations to full-blown fraud and money laundering indictments against the infamous crypto founder.
First, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that SBF had knowingly defrauded investors and depositors of the company. Second, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also filed large-scale fraud accusations. Lastly and most comprehensively, the US Justice Department charges a flurry of crimes, from encroaching campaign finance laws to conspiracy, money laundering, and fraud.
In a statement following the multitude of charges, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said: “Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto.” Gensler continued with a strong warning, “The alleged fraud committed by Mr. Bankman-Fried is a clarion call to crypto platforms that they need to come into compliance with our laws.”
The SEC filing also stated that SBF raised roughly $1.8 billion from investors and that “unbeknownst to those investors … Bankman-Fried was orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud, diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customer funds for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire.”
Revelation in the House Committee
Meanwhile, new FTX CEO John Ray III revealed his spiciest findings after taking over the bankruptcy procedure for the company.
Aside from the laughable revelation that the company was utilizing Intuit’s QuickBooks bookkeeping software to handle its multibillion-dollar portfolio, Ray also testified about the major lie about the separation of FTX from FTX US the company tweeted when its collapse was imminent. “There was a public distinction between FTX.com and FTX.us, but in reality, user data was amalgamated between the two.”
The new CEO also disputed the seemingly complex situation the company presents by using jargon and convoluted technical ideas, saying, “This is just old fashion embezzlement, taking money from others and using it for your own purposes,” he boldly voiced. “This is not sophisticated at all.”
Finally, he hammered the lack of expected refinement in the company’s leadership structure. “FTX Group’s collapse appears to stem from the absolute concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals who failed to implement virtually any of the systems or controls that are necessary for a company that is entrusted with other people’s money or assets,” Ray expressed.
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