USA: FTX Founder Charged in Scheme to Defraud Cryptocurrency Investors – 12/13/2022

The US government charged Samuel Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with a series of financial crimes on Tuesday. Dollars of company collapse.

Federal prosecutors said Bankman-Fried devised “a scheme and deception to defraud” FTX customers and investors, beginning in 2019, the year it was founded. In a 13-page indictment, prosecutors said in a 13-page indictment that he illegally laundered money from the crypto hedge fund he started at Alameda Research in 2017 to cover expenses, loans and risky trades, luxury real estate purchases and large political donations.

Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested Monday in the Bahamas at the request of the US government and remains in custody after being denied bail. He was charged with eight criminal counts ranging from wire fraud to money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud.

At a news conference Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called the case “one of the largest frauds in American history” and said the investigation was ongoing and moving quickly.