FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried denied bail by a judge in the Bahamas after he was arrested and charged by the US with fraud
- A judge in the Bahamas denied Sam Bankman-Fried bail after he was arrested Monday on fraud charges.
- The former FTX CEO was remanded into custody until February, according to reports.
A magistrate judge in the Bahamas denied FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried bail during a hearing on Tuesday following his Monday arrest on fraud charges.
The judge said the former CEO and founder of the crypto exchange platform posed a flight risk and remanded him to custody until February.
Authorities in the Bahamas detained Bankman-Fried this week, acting on a request from US officials. A US federal criminal indictment unsealed on Tuesday charged Bankman-Fried with multiple counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance violations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed civil charges against Bankman-Fried on Tuesday, alleging that he duped investors and defrauded customers.
Bankman-Fried told the court he could fight extradition back to the US, according to Reuters. Bahamian prosecutors had requested he be denied bail if he did so.
Bankman-Fried resigned from his role as CEO of FTX last month after the crypto-exchange filed for bankruptcy after facing a multi-billion dollar liquidity crunch. Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York allege that Bankman-Fried lied to investors since the start of the company and misused customer funds.
FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, testified at a US House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday that there was "no record-keeping whatsoever" regarding the company's financial dealings under Bankman-Fried's leadership.