SEC Charges Sam Bankman-Fried, Alleges ‘Massive, Years-Long Fraud’

• Tuesday’s SEC complaint stated that Samuel Bankman Fried was being accused of defrauding investors.
• Bankman-Fried was accused of “orchestrating years-long, massive fraud” by the SEC.
• Bankman-Fried was previously arrested in the Bahamas on the basis of a “sealed Indictment” issued by US authorities.

Tuesday’s announcement from the Securities and Exchange Commission stated that Samuel Bankman Fried was accused of defrauding investors through FTX, his cryptocurrency trading platform.

Its complaintThe SEC has accused Bankman-Fried, of “orchestrating a massive and long-running fraud” by defrauding FTX’s customer funds “billions of times” for “his personal benefit” and to help him grow his crypto empire.

The SEC accused the disgraced crypto founder of using the funds from customers to make “undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations,” per the complaint.

In its complaint, the SEC stated that Bankman-Fried hid this information for equity investors of FTX. The commission claimed that his statements regarding customer assets being safe and secure were false and misleading.

“We allege that Sam Bankman Fried built a house with cards on a foundation that was deceitful while telling investors that it would be one of the most secure buildings in crypto.” SEC chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday based on a “sealed indictment” from US authorities, the US Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York announced on social media.

More to follow…