Federal prosecutors in Southern District New York have charged Samuel Bankman-Fried, former CEO and co-founder of FTX, with eight counts of conspiracy and fraud charges, according to an indictment that was released Tuesday morning.
The charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The indictment is not heavy on specifics but it does make up a number of allegations, including that Bankman-Fried defrauded FTX customers by using their funds to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research, Bankman- Fried's hedge fund, and defrauded Alameda's lenders by giving false and misleading information about Alameda's financial condition.
The Prosecutors also allege that Bankman-Fried provided false and misleading information about FTX's financial condition to FTX investors, including by causing an email sent to an FTX investor in New York, New York, which contained materially false information about FTX's financial condition. The indictment also alleges that Bankman- Fried and others made contributions to candidates for the federal office, joint fundraising committees, and independent expenditure committees in the names of other people, totaling at least $25,000 in a single year, and also made contributions from a corporation to candidates for federal office and joint fundraising committees totaling at least $25,000 in a year.
In addition to any penalties for the offenses, prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of all property, including Bankman-Fried's arrest in the Bahamas, as well as a separate case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and another case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The indictment was originally filed on December 9.
The SDNY administration said there is no time for Bankman- Fried's extradition to the United States.