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Former FTX CEO, MIT Grad Sam Bankman-Fried Charged With Defrauding Investors Of $1.8 Billion

The former CEO of what used to be one of the world's largest cryptocurrency companies has been charged with defrauding investors of almost two billion dollars, authorities said.

Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview during the Bitcoin 2021 conference

Sam Bankman-Fried in an interview during the Bitcoin 2021 conference

Photo Credit: Cointelegraph on Wikipedia

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Samuel Bankman-Fried on Tuesday, Dec. 13, with defrauding FTX investors out of more than $1.8 billion. 

The SEC alleges that Bankman-Fried raised the funds – including $1.1 billion from 90 US-based investors – by falsely promoting a safe, responsible cryptocurrency since May 2019. 

"We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto," said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. "The alleged fraud committed by Mr. Bankman-Fried is a clarion call to crypto platforms that they need to come into compliance with our laws." 

Bankman-Fried was set to testify before Congress on Tuesday, but that hearing will go on without him following his arrest, the New York Times reported

Bankman-Fried, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2014, was arrested in the Bahamas Monday following a "receipt of formal notification from the United States," a statement from Attorney General Ryan Pinder reads.

Bankman-Fried resigned from FTX after the company collapses and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, CBS Boston reports. The SEC's investigation is ongoing. 

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