Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of FTX, was denied bail on Tuesday after a Bahamian choose deemed him a flight threat, based on Reuters. An extradition listening to is scheduled for February eighth.
Bankman-Fried, nicknamed “SBF,” was arrested within the Bahamas Monday night after US prosecutors knowledgeable the Bahamas of sweeping felony costs anticipated to be filed towards the disgraced crypto darling. In an unsealed indictment Tuesday, prosecutors on the Justice Division’s Southern District of New York charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud, together with mendacity to buyers and violating US marketing campaign finance legislation.
The court docket’s choice to disclaim bail follows a marathon listening to within the Home Monetary Companies Committee the place lawmakers questioned present FTX CEO John J. Ray III over the trade’s collapse. Earlier than his arrest on Monday, SBF was slated to testify earlier than lawmakers as properly. In remarks obtained by The Wall Avenue Journal, SBF was ready to apologize for the implosion, but additionally positioned partial blame onto Ray and rival cryptocurrency trade Binance.
“I want to begin by formally stating, below oath: I fucked up,” the remarks mentioned.
All through Tuesday’s listening to, lawmakers broadly agreed FTX’s collapse warranted higher regulation of the crypto regulation. However with little time left earlier than the tip of the 12 months, McHenry mentioned the committee would choose up negotiations in January.
“The arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried is welcome information, however it nonetheless doesn’t resolve what occurred at FTX, and why it occurred, and who else could also be accountable,” incoming Monetary Companies Chair Patrick McHenry (R-TX) mentioned in his opening assertion.