Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has agreed to go to the US to face charges.
US authorities say that a 30-year-old man from the Bahamas is behind “one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.”
Even though Mr. Bankman-Fried denies the accusations, someone close to him told the BBC that he had agreed to be extradited.
Since FTX went bankrupt, there have been a lot of people who need help getting their money.
A court document said that FTX owed almost $3.1 billion (£2.5 billion) to its 50 biggest creditors.
Mr. Bankman-Fried was arrested on December 12 but hasn’t been sent back to the US yet. Reuters said, though, that he could be sent to the US after a court hearing on Wednesday in the Bahamas.
One of the worst things said about him is that he kept his investment trading company, Alameda, going by stealing billions of dollars from his customers.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said last week that Mr. Bankman-Fried was accused of one of the biggest scams in US history.
The founder of FTX was also accused of giving “tens of millions” of dollars in illegally made money to Democrats and Republicans to help them win elections.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said that the man who used to be called the “King of Crypto” built a “house of cards on a foundation of deception.”
But Mr. Bankman-Fried has tried to keep from being blamed for something wrong he did.
Mr. Bankman-Fried has also denied that he must have known that Alameda Research was using FTX customer funds.
People could trade real money for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin on the FTX exchange.
Cryptocurrencies differ from regular money because they are not kept in a bank. Instead, they are kept online and act more like investments or securities with a high level of risk.
About 1.2 million people signed up to use the FTX exchange, but many still don’t know if they will ever get their money back from the digital wallets they used to store their money.
Mr. Bankman-Fried used to be seen as a younger version of Warren Buffett, who is known as one of the best investors in the US. As late as October, it was thought he was worth more than $15bn.
The US says Sam Bankman-Fried stole money from people.
The US government says that Sam Bankman-Fried is guilty of “one of the largest financial frauds in US history” in the case of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Gary Gensler, in charge of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that Mr. Bankman-Fried built a “house of cards on a foundation of lies.”
Officials have also said he broke the rules about spending money on a campaign.
Mr. Gensler also said that the charges for alleged fraud should warn other platforms to follow US laws.
Both the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that Mr. Bankman-Fried would be charged (CFTC).
Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters on Tuesday that Mr. Bankman-Fried is being accused of one of the biggest scams in US history.
Mr. Williams also said that Mr. Bankman-Fried had tricked lenders, investors, and customers and used “tens of millions” of dollars in illegally made money to give illegal campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans.
FTX was one of the worst cons ever
During an interview with BBC News earlier this month, Mr. Bankman-Fried tried to get away from claims that he had done something wrong.
Mr. Bankman-Fried also said that he couldn’t have known that Alameda Research, a trading company with ties to FTX, was using FTX customers’ money.
People said that when he was young, he was like the famous US investor Warren Buffett. He was worth more than $15 billion (£12.1 billion) until October.
People know him as someone who puts money into political campaigns. He was caught in the Bahamas and is kept there until he can be sent to the US. On Tuesday, he said he would fight to avoid being taken away.
John Ray, the company’s new CEO, told a US congressional committee that FTX’s failure seemed to be caused by a small group of people who were not very smart or experienced.
He said he hadn’t seen any records or checks from within the company.
Last month, FTX went out of business in the US. Because of this, many people needed help getting their money back.
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A court document from last month said that FTX owed almost $3.1 billion to its 50 biggest creditors.
People could trade real money for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin on the FTX exchange.
Most people don’t think of cryptocurrencies as money in the way most people think of money. Instead, they are kept online and act more like investments or securities with a high level of risk.
Criminals like to work with them because they can sell drugs and start ransomware attacks without getting caught. Still, people who support them say there is much room for innovation and freedom from governments.
