Sam Bankman-Fried and two former FTX associates are reportedly currently “under monitoring” by Bahamian officials as a result of rumors that the American was about to flee to Dubai.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, Gary Wang, the co-founder, and Nishad Singh, the director of engineering, are believed to be in the Bahamas and are “under supervision” by the local law enforcement.
The three former FTX executives, along with Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research, are reportedly looking for a way to escape to Dubai, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The United States and the UAE signed a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) back on February 24, 2022, to cooperate in the fight against criminals, but the plan was created under the assumption that the two countries “doesn’t have any extradition treaties.”
“Right now three of them, Sam, Gary, and Nishad are under supervision in the Bahamas, which means it will be hard for them to leave,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. The source has also revealed that Ellison is currently in Hong Kong, adding that means “she might be able to get to Dubai.”
On November 10, reports that Bankman-Fried had been detained on the tarmac at The Bahamas Airport circulated due to evidence that Bankman-private Fried’s plane had been grounded for 40 minutes while en route to Miami from Nassau.
There were subsequent claims that he had arrived in Buenos Aires early on November 12 after Twitter users used the flight tracking website ADS-B Exchange to trace the coordinates of Bankman-private Fried’s plane.
In a text message to Reuters sent later that day, Bankman-Fried refuted rumors that he had fled to Argentina and said instead that he was still in The Bahamas. The former CEO of FTX is at the center of one of the biggest scandals in the sector.
According to a Nov. 9 article from The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into the crypto exchange’s demise.
The “apparent failure” of the exchange will be the subject of an investigation, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) stated on November 10.
Sam Bankman-Fried confirmed on November 11 that he filed for bankruptcy for about 130 FTX Group entities, including FTX Trading, FTX US, and Alameda Research.