• News

Sam Bankman-Fried charged with multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy, & money laundering

The indictment against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been unsealed, alleging that he knowingly agreed to defraud FTX.com customers.

TJ Denzer

December 13, 2022 10:40 AM

Image by Tom Williams/Getty Images

1

It has been less than 24 hours since we learned that FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas, and now the charges against the former billionaire have been unsealed. Bankman-Fried is officially being charged with multiple counts, including wire and securities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations.

The indictment and charges against Sam Bankman-Fried were revealed on December 13, 2022, as reported by CNBC. The indictment is being carried out by the U.S. District Court in Manhattan and charges Bankman-Fried with eight criminal counts, including money laundering, separate charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, and more.

The indictment also alleges that Sam Bankman-Fried knowingly and purposely “agreed with others to defraud customers of FTX.com by misappropriating those customers’ deposits and using those deposits to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research.”

Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12, 2022 by Bahamian authorities at the behest of the US Government. The US is likely to request Bankman-Fried’s extradition immediately to face the criminal charges laid out against him today. There were further allegations that Sam Bankman-Fried transferred funds to Bahama accounts after the collapse of FTX and its following filing for bankruptcy. Since then, the cryptocurrency scene has been shaken due to a multitude of companies and entities having connection or investment in FTX prior to its collapse. Groups like GameStop and Team SoloMid cut ties with FTX immediately while other groups were forced to file for bankruptcy as well, such as crypto lender BlockFi.

With Bankman-Fried arrested and criminal charges laid out by authorities, it seems likely that we’ll see the FTX co-founder in court soon. Stay tuned as we continue to monitor the situation for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.