According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was accused of multiple crimes.
SEC Accused SBF with large political contributions and real estate purchases
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was the subject of various allegations, according to a statement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But the day before he was scheduled to testify before Congress, SBF was taken into custody in the Bahamas.
According to the announcement, the commission has charged SBF with planning a scheme to defraud equity investors through FTX trading Ltd. Additionally, he broke other securities laws and entered other businesses. SBF has also been charged with cheating equity investors and utilising unreported venture funding to acquire billions of dollars from customers.
SEC has also charged SBF with making substantial political contributions and extensive real estate purchases, so the list of allegations doesn't stop here. According to the press release, since at least May 2019, the Bahamas-based FTX has raised more than $1.8 billion from equity investors. This includes roughly $1.1 billion from 90 investors in the US.
The SEC claims that FTX's previous CEO advertised the company as a reputable and secure platform for trading digital assets. It is alleged that SBF orchestrated a lengthy deception and kept the investors in the dark about it. He kept quiet about the money being diverted from FTX clients to its sibling company, Alameda Research.
Alameda Research received preferential treatment from SBF on its crypto exchange. This includes granting Alameda an unrestricted credit line. Nevertheless, he omitted to mention the danger posed by FTX's exposure to Alameda's holdings.
Alameda customers' money is supposedly what the former CEO of FTX utilised to make a number of entrepreneurial investments. He donated a lot of money to politics while buying expensive real estate.
