Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chairman and CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested on Dec. 12 in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government.

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamian government, which led to the arrest. The officials will likely unveil the details later on Dec. 13. Following the arrest, SBF is set to be extradited to the U.S.

USA Damian Williams: Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY. We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.

— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 12, 2022

Bankman-Fried planned to give more interviews

Disgraced Sam Bankman-Fried planned to testify before Congress virtually on Dec. 13th because of his packed schedule and safety concerns. He believed the paparazzi assumed he went to Washington, D.C.:

“I’m quite overbooked and was not planning to be testifying until, like, very recently. From a security standpoint it’s very difficult for me to move right now and travel because just, like, the paparazzi effect is quite large.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX

Members of the House Financial Services Committee plan to question Bankman-Fried about the abrupt failure of the digital currency exchange, which had once been valued in the tens of billions of dollars.

In an interview with the “Unusual Whales” platform on Monday, Bankman-Fried stated that he would discuss the deterioration of FTX and its broader effects on the digital asset market. Previously valued at $32 billion, Bankman- Fried’s exchange applied for bankruptcy protection last month after a run on its utility token raised questions about the company’s adequate capitalization.

After FTX declared bankruptcy on Nov. 11, Bankman-Fried went on a quicksand media tour to defend his decision. The crypto grifter responded, “I’m quite overbooked,” when asked why he wouldn’t take flight in for the House hearing. Bankman-Fried said he was discouraged by the “paparazzi” when asked on Twitter Environs if his unwillingness to show up in person was because he was worried about being arrested.

SBF was sure he would not be arrested

The former FTX CEO told more than 19,000 Twitter users who followed along with the interview that he did not think he would be arrested. Bankman-Fried acknowledged playing video games during the Twitter Zones interview, which is what was making the background clicking noises.

Tuesday’s testimony will also feature FTX CEO John J. Ray III, an attorney and insolvency expert appointed CEO after the cryptocurrency exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In addition, Sam declared in a tweet on Friday that he will be limited in what he has to state to the congressional leaders, which wouldn’t be as aid as he’d like.

Rep. Waters, and the House Committee on Financial Services:

Once I have finished learning and reviewing what happened, I would feel like it was my duty to appear before the committee and explain.

I’m not sure that will happen by the 13th. But when it does, I will testify. https://t.co/c0P8yKlyQt

— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 4, 2022

The tweet emanated in response to many tweets prior to this month from Maxine Waters, the chair of the House Financial Services Committee and a Democrat from California, who asked Bankman-Fried to attend hearings regarding the demise of FTX.