Creepy Crypto Ponzi Schemer SBF Gets Arrested … Just In Time To Miss Congressional Testimony
Whether Sam Bankman-Fried was worthy of arrest after the malfeasance that collapsed the FTX Crypto fund wasn’t the question. The question is… why now?
It’s been more than a month since the world witnessed one of the most spectacular wealth-destruction events in history, and until news came of his arrest, it seemed SBF faced no serious danger of prison time. Rather than exercising his right to remain silent, he was still speaking to the media.
Last week, it was even announced that he had come to an agreement that he would sit before Congress and answer some questions. With his arrest this week, it’s doubtful whether he will ever get that chance. He had reportedly managed to write out a draft copy of 18 pages of testimony for when he would appear before Congress by the time he was arrested, which included some spicy allegations about the conduct of the Chapter 11 team planning to follow the Enron playbook and soak the company for legal fees.
Now that he’s been arrested, we are likely to hear the usual (valid) explanation that he cannot make any public statements because that would potentially interfere with the criminal investigation. Also, any decent lawyer would tell him to plead the 5th for every question precisely because he is in the middle of a criminal investigation and can’t afford to speak freely.
Here’s what we know about his arrest so far.
The 30-year-old was taken into custody after the Bahamian government received formal notification from the US of the charges against him, according to the Office of Attorney General in the Bahamas.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, confirmed Bankman-Fried’s arrest and said the indictment would be unsealed Tuesday.
“Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,” Williams tweeted. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”
The charges include wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering, the New York Times reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. — NewYorkPost
The SDNY, you say?
Interesting.
Sam Bankman-Fried, who goes by SBF, is at the center of the business scandal of the year. His cryptocurrency exchange FTX blew up suddenly in November, leaving millions of customers in the lurch. Everyone wants answers—including Congress, where SBF was supposed to testify on Tuesday. In a shocking turn of events, he was instead arrested on Monday night by authorities in the Bahamas, where he was residing, at the request of the U.S. government.
With SBF’s notable absence, the hearing will likely yield some tough questions from lawmakers, including into the investigation by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that led to his arrest. It will possibly create some awkward moments for members of Congress themselves, many of whom have been implicated in SBF’s web of failure. […] -Fortune
Those ‘members of Congress’ do we know anything about them?
That’s right.
Apart from Soros himself, this guy was the DNC’s single biggest sugar daddy. Democrats financed their Midterm Election wins in no small part through the very same scandal that SBF now faces criminal charges.
Interesting timing, isn’t it, that he was arrested the day before he was to sit before Congress? Surely it’s a coincidence.
It’s such a relief that law enforcement has a long history of being fair and impartial in such cases, isn’t it? That track record of impartiality — especially at SDNY — goes a long way to allieving any concerns the public might have that someone is more interested in protecting the various people who benefited from SBF’s donations than they are in seeking justice for the men and women whose retirement savings were wiped out.
[Shameless plug alert: notice the clickable image at the top of this page — our ClashDaily store has merch that lets you voice your disgust for the politicization of our law enforcement. Plenty of other Rowdy merch, too. Our store helps us keep the site free, and avoid putting up any annoying paywalls.]The Wildman Devotional: A 50 Day Devotional for Men
Dear Warriors. The Wildman Devotional: A 50 Day Devotional for Men will fuel your inner wildman with solid meat from the scripture. In these 200+ pages, you’ll feast on the wealth, the walk, and the warfare of the Christian that’ll prepare you for maximum usefulness on this side of the grave. This book is fire! A great gift for all the men in your life. BTW, women will love this devotional as well.