NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government charged Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with a host of financial crimes on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors allege he intentionally deceived customers and investors to enrich himself and others, while playing a central role in FTX’s multibillion-dollar collapse. The indictment says that beginning in 2019 Bankman-Fried devised “a scheme and artifice to defraud” FTX’s customers and investors, diverting their money to pay expenses and debts at his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, and to make lavish real estate purchases and large political donations. Separately, the SEC filed civil charges against Bankman-Fried, alleging he defrauded investors and used proceeds to buy real estate for himself and his family.
FTX founder charged in scheme to defraud crypto investors
