The Attorney General of the Bahamas has announced the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former chief executive of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which collapsed a few weeks ago. The Attorney-General’s office issued the announcement on December 12, 2022 and said the fallen crypto chief was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
Mr Bankman-Fried’s arrest followed the receipt of formal notification from the United States that it has filed criminal charges against SBF and is likely to request his extradition.
“As a result of the notification received and the material provided therewith, it was deemed appropriate for the Attorney General to seek SBF’s arrest and hold him in custody pursuant to our nation’s Extradition Act.
At such time as a formal request for extradition is made, The Bahamas intends to process it promptly, pursuant to Bahamian law and its treaty obligations with the United States.
Responding to SBF’s arrest, Prime Minister Davis stated, “The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law. While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, The Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere.”