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Sam Bankmanfried, the founder of FTX, one of the world's top three cryptocurrency exchanges, was arrested in the Bahamas and handed over to trial.
He faces eight charges, including fraud and money laundering, which could face up to 115 years in prison if all charges are pleaded.
Reporter Lee Seong-hoon reports.
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Sam Bankmanfried, the founder of FTX, one of the world's three largest cryptocurrency exchanges, who was called a 'geek genius' with humanity, was handed over to trial a day after being arrested in the Bahamas.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on the 13th local time that Bankman Fried was indicted on eight charges, including fraud, money laundering and illegal campaign contributions.
[Daniel Williams/Prosecutor of the Southern District of New York: Bankman Fried, the founder of a series of scams that brought FTX to bankruptcy, was charged with eight counts.] Since 2019, Bankman Fried has been planning to defraud FTX customers and investors
, It was investigated that customer money was siphoned off to a virtual currency hedge fund affiliate to pay off the company's debts and expenses.
He was also found to have used the money of clients and investors to buy luxury properties in the Bahamas and make huge donations to politicians.
Prosecutors said he could face up to 115 years in prison if all charges are admitted.
Following the prosecution's indictment, US financial authorities are also filing lawsuits one after another.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a civil suit against Bankman Fried, claiming that although he reassured investors that "FTX has a top-notch risk management system," he actually misappropriated money.
Bankman Fried, who once rose to $26.5 billion in assets on the virtual currency boom, filed for bankruptcy protection for FTX and stepped down as CEO when a massive withdrawal occurred last month as suspicions of financial structure were insolvent.