The former head of one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges has been accused of defrauding investors out of $1.8bn (£1.5bn).
Sam Bankman-Friedfounder of FTP extensionit was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
He was arrested in the Bahamas after authorities received formal notice that separate criminal charges had been filed against him in the United States.
The 30-year-old, whose net worth peaked at $26bn (£21bn), ran the firm from the island until he he stepped down as chief executive officer last month.
According to the SEC complaint, Bankman-Fried diverted client funds to his first business, Alameda Research, without telling him.
The funds amassed in Alameda have been used to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish property purchases and large political donations, the SEC alleges.
As for the separate charges that led to his arrest in the Bahamas, those are expected to be disclosed later.
He has the right to challenge his extradition to face the charges, which came just a day before he was due to testify before America’s House Financial Services Committee.
Bankman-Fried has been at the center of investigations by US and Bahamian authorities since the collapse of FTX, which ran out of money in the crypto equivalent of a bank run.
It had been the second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
