It’s stacking up: SEC to file separate charges against FTX’s SBF

The legal troubles are mounting for Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of crypto exchange FTX.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Dec. 12 that it is preparing to file charges against the Alameda Research co-founder, which will be separate from the ones leading to his most recent arrest in the Bahamas.

In a statement on Twitter, the SEC tweeted a quote from its division of enforcement director Gurbir Grewal on Dec. 12 stating that the agency has “authorized separate charges relating to his violations of securities laws.”

Gurbir Grewal: We commend our law enforcement partners for securing the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried on federal criminal charges. The SEC has authorized separate charges relating to his violations of securities laws, to be filed publicly tomorrow in SDNY. https://t.co/ON0LgY4mf4

— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) December 13, 2022

Grewal said the charges will be filed publicly “tomorrow” on Dec. 14 at the Southern District of New York.

Related: FTX was an ‘utter failure of corporate controls at every level of an organization’, says new CEO

The SEC’s announcement comes only hours after news broke of Bankman-Fried’s arrest in the Bahamas.

In a statement, Senator Ryan Pinder, the attorney general of the Bahamas, said the arrest followed receipt of formal notification from the United States that it has filed criminal charges against SBF and is likely to request his extradition.

Specific details on the charges have not yet been confirmed, but it i understood they include wire and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud and money laundering.

In his latest statement, the SEC’s Grewal commended the agency’s “law enforcement partners” for securing the arrest of Bankman-Fried on federal criminal charges.