FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (2nd L) is led away handcuffed by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Power in Nassau, Bahamas on December 13, 2022.
Mario Duncanson | AFP | Getty Photographs
Days earlier than FTX’s chapter submitting final month, co-CEO Ryan Salame informed Bahamian authorities that founder Sam Bankman-Fried could have dedicated fraud by sending buyer cash from the crypto alternate to his different agency, Alameda Analysis.
In response to a submitting on Wednesday tied to FTX’s chapter proceedings, Salame disclosed “attainable mishandling of purchasers’ property” by Bankman-Fried. The letter included within the submitting was dated Nov. 9, and was despatched from the Securities Fee of the Bahamas to the commissioner of police. FTX declared chapter on Nov. 11.
The disclosure on Wednesday marks the primary public acknowledgment of an insider turning on Bankman-Fried, who was arrested within the Bahamas on Monday after the U.S. Lawyer for the Southern District of New York shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamian authorities. The indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, charged Bankman-Fried with eight legal counts associated to fraud, cash laundering and improper use of buyer funds.
Salame informed regulators that solely three people at FTX — Bankman-Fried, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang — had the type of entry and authority to engineer the presumably fraudulent transfers to Alameda, a hedge fund and buying and selling agency. Commissioners understood Salame to have mentioned the fund actions and commingling allegedly approved by Bankman-Fried had been opposite to “regular company governance” practices.”
Salame’s LinkedIn profile says he is based mostly within the Bahamas. He additionally has a number of residences within the U.S., with houses in Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey. He had departed the Bahamas for the U.S. by Nov. 9, in accordance with the letter.
Like Bankman-Fried, Salame was a big political donor, donating $20 million to Republican causes.
— CNBC’s Brian Schwartz contributed to this report.
Correction: Up to date to replicate Salame suggested the Securities Fee of the Bahamas, not Bankman-Fried and Alameda, on the operations of FTX Digital Markets.
