Previously, lawyers have already commented on a possible sentence for Sam Bachmann-Fried. In particular, in mid-November, Fortune magazine’s Jeff Roberts requested a statement from a lawyer who did so on condition of anonymity.

According to the expert at the time, the Department of Justice allegedly has enough data for a case under the so-called Section 1343, which involves financial fraud by electronic means. The maximum sentence under this article is 20 years.


It should be noted that just last week, lawyer Charles Slamowitz made a comment regarding what is happening with Sam Bankman-Fried. At the time he said that Sam was unlikely to be arrested any time soon as the investigation on several fronts takes time. As has now become clear, the expert was wrong.


What will happen to Sam Bankman-Friede

The arrest of the founder of crypto exchange FTX became known tonight. He was detained by Bahamas police officers, Decrypt reports. The arrest follows “receipt of official notification from the US authorities that criminal proceedings have been initiated against Sam and a preliminary desire to extradite him”.

The information was confirmed by representatives of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on Twitter. Here is the relevant quote.

Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Friede at the request of the US government on a sealed indictment. We expect to move on to the disclosed indictment in the morning and will have more information by then.

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Bahamas Police have also confirmed the arrest of Bankman-Friede. He was apprehended around 6pm at his own apartment in Albany. Law enforcement officials said Sam’s arrest was due to “various financial offences against the laws of the United States, which also violate the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas”.

On a separate note, Sam Bachmann-Fried was scheduled to participate in a US Congress hearing today, whose representatives wanted to find out details of what happened to the FTX crypto exchange. However, the New York Post said last night that the founder plans to skip the event as he has quite a few meetings scheduled.

New problems for Sam were also created by the current head of crypto-exchange FTX lawyer John Ray. The day before, he claimed that the collapse of FTX was instigated by "a very small group of extremely inexperienced and ordinary people". This quote was taken from prepared testimony that Ray was preparing to present to the House Financial Services Committee. It also discussed the mixing of FTX users' funds with those of Alameda, as well as the cryptocurrency exchange's lack of normal financial reporting.


The logo of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX

So what is Sam Bankman-Frieda being accused of? According to sources close to the subject, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have charged Sam with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and related conspiracy, and money laundering.


As experts point out, even a conviction solely for fraud by electronic means could end in twenty years' imprisonment in a federal prison. Accordingly, Bachmann-Friede is sure to be in even more trouble.


Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who previously invited Sam to a congressional hearing, commented on the event. Apparently, she was not expecting this scenario. Here’s her rejoinder.

I am surprised by the arrest of Sam Bunkman-Friede by order of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Still, the public was looking forward to hearing his answers under oath before Congress, but the timing of his arrest deprives the public of that opportunity.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

However, she still expects to get to the bottom of the case. Here’s another quote.

Although I am disappointed that we will not hear from Mr Bankman-Fried tomorrow, we still have enough determination to get to the bottom of the situation. The committee looks forward to our investigation, which will begin with Mr John Ray’s hearing tomorrow.


Apparently Sam Bankman-Fried will not be helped by the donations he has made to politicians and the media after all. He will now be remanded in custody with the prospect of extradition to the US. Well, what's next for us is the proceedings in the case, which are sure to reveal more details about the situation with FTX and Alameda Research this year. By the way, the fate of Alameda executive Caroline Allison, who was spotted in New York in December, is interesting here.


There’s more interesting stuff in our Millionaire Crypto Chat. There we talk about other topics that affect the crypto world as well.

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