Sam Bankman-Fried, disgraced founder of crypto empire FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas (opens in new tab) today. Bahamian authorities arrested the 30-year-old, known as SBF, following criminal charges filed by U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.
The founder of the Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX, SBF was once worth $26 billion (opens in new tab). But in November, the exchange collapsed and filed for bankruptcy amid allegations he mismanaged customer funds.
U.S. Prosecutors began laying the groundwork (opens in new tab) for legal action against SBF in early December.
Bankman-Fried’s parents, both Stanford Law professors, flew out to the Bahamas in November to offer support to their son. SBF’s legal team is also said to include white-collar crime expert and Stanford professor, David W. Mills.
The crypto founder has raised eyebrows in recent weeks (opens in new tab) for moving forward with a slew of interviews (opens in new tab) about the fall of his crypto empire, despite lawyers’ warnings that his public appearances may cause legal troubles.