Sam Bankman-Fried, a former rising star in cryptocurrencies, was indicted on Tuesday by American justice for defrauding customers and investors who had placed their money in his companies FTX and Alameda.
Apprehended Monday evening at the request of the United States in the Bahamas, where he resides, the thirties was presented to a magistrate of the archipelago, who decided to keep him in detention.
Dressed in a blue suit and without handcuffs, he said during the hearing in a court in Nassau that he could oppose his extradition to the United States, local media reported.
US justice wants to try him on eight counts, including electronic fraud, money laundering and violation of electoral laws.
Read alsoFTX: deception, conflicts of interest, excess… Will Sam Bankman-Fried end his life in prison?
Sam Bankman-Fried, nicknamed "SBF", is accused of having, from the beginning of FTX in 2019, used the money deposited by customers wishing to speculate on cryptocurrencies to finance the activity - and the risky bets - of his brokerage and investment company Alameda.
He is also accused of having lied to the financiers who lent money to Alameda about the real financial health of the company and to the investors of FTX.
He finally used money
“stolen”
from his clients to pay tens of millions of dollars to political leaders, Democrats and Republicans alike, and thus try
to “buy influence”
in Washington, accused the prosecutor New York Federal, Damian Williams, at a press conference.
Financial market regulators have simultaneously filed civil complaints against the former financial prodigy.
He has
"built a house of cards based on deception
," said Gary Gensler, chairman of the authority overseeing Wall Street (SEC).
Read alsoCryptocurrencies: the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, the ex-billionaire of FTX, now ruined
The stock market policeman accuses him of having lied to investors about the links between his two companies and of having used his clients' money to make
"risky investments, lavish real estate purchases and significant political donations"
.
The agency in charge of derivatives (CFTC) accuses him for his part of fraud and false declarations.
"Mr. Bankman-Fried is reviewing the charges with his legal team and exploring all of his legal options,”
his US attorney, Mark Cohen, said in a statement.
The collapse of FTX has tripped up several companies in the cryptocurrency industry and prompted many officials to call for increased regulation.
The spokesperson for the White House thus recalled on Tuesday that the government of Joe Biden supports
“legislative efforts to enact cryptocurrency legislation to better protect American consumers”
.