U.S. regulators filed civil securities fraud charges on Tuesday against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, who arrested on monday night at his home in the Bahamas.
Securities and Markets Commission accuse him with deceiving large investors, who have committed nearly 2 billion dollars to FTX in recent years, about the financial position of crypto exchanges and sister crypto trading platforms its, Alameda Research.
The SEC also said that Mr. Bankman-Fried deceived customers by taking billions of dollars to trade crypto on FTX and telling them it was safe. But the SEC says that money from clients is mixed with funds at Alameda and used to fund investments in outside business ventures, real estate purchases and political donations.
“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of tokens on a deceitful foundation while telling investors it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” said the chairman. The SEC, Gary Gensler, said in a statement.
SEC of civil complaint Mr. Bankman-Fried said he was “staged a massive, year-long scam, transferring billions of dollars of customer funds on the trading platform for his own personal gain and to help grow his crypto empire,” said Bankman-Fried. his death.”
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are expected to drop a criminal indictment against Bankman-Fried on Tuesday, which is expected to charge him with wire fraud. , wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering.
The collapse of the FTX empire shocked the crypto world and made many investors grasp not only the volatility of crypto assets, but also the security and safety of the platforms they use. Cryptocurrencies are traded. FTX is one of the biggest exchanges in the world and has spent a lot of money on advertising and marketing.
Representatives for Mr Bankman-Fried were not immediately available for comment.
