After the US files allegations, former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried is detained in the Bahamas.

Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, was detained in the Bahamas on Monday at the request of American authorities, the day prior to he was originally scheduled to appear before Congress over the unexpected closure of one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world last month.

The 30-year-old tycoon, commonly known by his initials SBF, rode a surge in bitcoin and other digital currencies to emerge as a multi-billionaire before FTX's quick death. His arrest is a remarkable fall from grace.

The Bahamas-based, 2019-launched exchange declared bankruptcy on November 11 after struggling to obtain capital to avoid collapsing as investors rushed to remove $6 billion from the site in only 72 hours. Since then, it has come to light that Bankman-Fried hid the usage of $10 billion in customer money for the support of his trading company.

The detention happened just as Bankman-Fried was getting ready to confront his former attorneys at Sullivan and Cromwell, the new CEO of FTX, John Ray, and rival exchange owner Binance in front of Congress.

Bankman-Fried intended to claim in the witness statements version of which was obtained by Reuters—that Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers forced him to propose Ray as CEO as a result of the unexpected outflow of client monies. And when he quickly altered his mind after being offered billions in new money, he was informed that it was too late.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who expressed surprise after hearing of Bankman-arrest, Fried's said in a statement that he will no longer be allowed to testify. The testimony of Ray will proceed.

Bankman-Fried was detained at his apartment building, a posh gated enclave called the Albany, just after 6:00 pm Monday (2300 GMT), and will show up in court on Tuesday, according to Bahamian police. He is anticipated to be deported to the United States, according to the Bahamas attorney general's office.

A representative of the U.S. The Manhattan attorney's office acknowledged that Bankman-Fried had been detained in the Bahamas but would not remark on the allegations.

According to US prosecutors, Bankman-Fried is the subject of a secret investigation, and charges will be made public on Tuesday. He is accused of fraud and money laundering according to The New York Times. Bankman-violations of securities laws were given separate authorization by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the watchdog said on Monday.

Bankman-Fried has stated that he does not believe he is guilty of any crimes. In an interview with Bankman-Fried on November 30 at the New York Times Dealbook Summit, she claimed, “I never tried to do fraud.”

SBF Under Pressure

Bankman-Fried described how Sullivan and Cromwell coerced him into stepping down from his position as CEO of FTX and appointing Ray. He also said that the general counsel of FTX's U.S. division, who he claimed was a former attorney at the law firm, also exerted influence on him.

Bankman-Fried claimed that less than ten minutes after approving a memorandum to name Ray as the CEO of FTX at 4.30 am on Nov. 10 he received “a potential funding offer for billions of dollars.” Bankman-Fried claimed that he then told his advice to revoke the CEO appointment but was informed that it was already too late.

Bankman-Fried claimed Ray had stopped responding to his emails offering assistance or other data and that he had subsequently been disconnected from FTX's servers.

As a reminder, WikiBit is ready to help you search the qualifications and reputation of projects in a bid to protect you from hidden dangers in this risky industry!

iOS: t.ly/UUCj

Android: t.ly/cfYt