Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried charged with wire fraud, conspiracy
MIAMI - The former founder and CEO of fallen the crypto company FTX is accused of stealing billions.
Samuel Bankman-Fried was scheduled to testify to a U.S. House financial committee Tuesday about his company, but wound up being taken into custody in Nassau, Bahamas Monday night.
He was denied bail.
The 30-year-old has been indicted on eight criminal charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy by misusing customer funds
"He used that money for his personal benefit, including to make personal investments and to cover expenses and debts of his hedge fund, Alameda Research," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams.
Bankman-Fried is also accused of making tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions.
"All of this dirty money was used in service of Blackman-Fried's desire to buy bi-partisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington," Williams said.
He was a major contributor to President Biden.
"I just can't talk to political contributions or anything related to that," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about it Tuesday.
Bankman-Fried said in an interview last month that he also gave money to Republicans but said that money was "dark." In other words, he did it in a way that donations were hidden.
In a parallel civil complaint, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Bankman-Fried of defrauding investors to buy real estate for himself and his family.
"There apparently was upwards of $8 billion moved inappropriately, or allegedly inappropriately, from the accounts of FTX to Alameda," explained Richard Serafini, a criminal and SEC defense attorney in South Florida.
"The early reports show the actual loss may be in the neighborhood between $1.8 to 2 billion in investor losses," he said.
The home of the Miami Heat still bears the name FTX Arena. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says it is in the process of coming down
"This is a very difficult and disappointing situation," she told CBS 4. "We know that so many people have been hurt. We're really very concerned about the whole situation, and as far as us here locally, we have to wait for the court to give us direction."
Extradition proceedings for Bankman-Fried are underway.
Some members of Congress who accepted donations have come forward to say they are returning the money.
Incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, for example, who received $5,800, said he is giving it to charity.