Following up with accusations of fraud, Sam Bankman Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday (12/13/22). He is expected to be extradited to the United States for a trial; the arrest comes with charges of fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The Security Exchange Committee filed a civil suit against him as well for money laundering. 

Although SBF is going to be held accountable individually, his organization is going to be investigated by authorities in the Bahamas, as their financial regulations are different. As a result, it’s been decided that the Royal Bahamas police force will investigate according to their laws. The prime minister of the Bahamas, Phillip Davis stated that “The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX”

This doesn’t come without resistance, however, as the FTX attorneys have accused the Bahamian government of working with Fried, to sprite away assets into the pockets from company control into individual wallets. 

If the United States pursues these wire fraud charges, SBF could easily face life in prison. The only comparison to a fraud on this scale, was Bernie Madoff, who was given 150 years in prison, effectively a life sentence.