Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of FTX, was denied bail on Tuesday after a Bahamian decide deemed him a flight threat, in keeping with Reuters. An extradition listening to is scheduled for February eighth.
Bankman-Fried, nicknamed “SBF,” was arrested within the Bahamas Monday night after US prosecutors knowledgeable the Bahamas of sweeping felony costs anticipated to be filed in opposition to the disgraced crypto darling. In an unsealed indictment Tuesday, prosecutors on the Justice Division’s Southern District of New York charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud, together with mendacity to traders and violating US marketing campaign finance regulation.
The court docket’s choice to disclaim bail follows a marathon listening to within the Home Monetary Providers Committee the place lawmakers questioned present FTX CEO John J. Ray III over the trade’s collapse. Earlier than his arrest on Monday, SBF was slated to testify earlier than lawmakers as nicely. In remarks obtained by The Wall Avenue Journal, SBF was ready to apologize for the implosion, but additionally positioned partial blame onto Ray and rival cryptocurrency trade Binance.
“I want to begin by formally stating, underneath oath: I fucked up,” the remarks stated.
All through Tuesday’s listening to, lawmakers broadly agreed FTX’s collapse warranted better regulation of the crypto regulation. However with little time left earlier than the tip of the 12 months, McHenry stated the committee would choose up negotiations in January.
“The arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried is welcome information, but it surely nonetheless doesn’t resolve what occurred at FTX, and why it occurred, and who else could also be accountable,” incoming Monetary Providers Chair Patrick McHenry (R-TX) stated in his opening assertion.
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