Sam Bankman-Fried former FTX’s CEO, co-founder Gary Wang, and director of engineering Nishad Singh are reportedly in the Bahamas and “under supervision” by the government there as of November 13, 2022 (Nassau).
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the three former FTX executives and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison are searching for ways to escape to Dubai because that country “doesn’t have any extradition treaties,” most likely referring to extradition agreements with the United States.
Sam Bankman, Gary, and Nishad are currently being watched over in the Bahamas. So it will be challenging for them to go,” the insider, who requested anonymity, added.
“I recently learned that they were attempting to travel to Dubai, which lacks an extradition agreement.”
The host of The Crypto Roundtable Show, Mario Nawfal, brought up a related hypothesis during a 16-hour Twitter Room in which a guest speaker claimed: “reliable sources” had seen Bankman-Fried “in a sealed space” with law enforcement in Albany Tower, a luxurious resort in New Providence of Bahamas.
Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly disproves fleeing to Argentina
As the tale surrounding the demise of his defunct cryptocurrency exchange played out almost in real-time on Twitter, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried disputed rumors that he had fled to Argentina.
When Reuters questioned Bankman-Fried about whether he had traveled to Argentina by plane, he texted back, “Nope.” He said that he was still in the Bahamas, where he had moved there permanently the previous year.
Authorities are closing in on Bankman-Fried and his disbanded cryptocurrency enterprise, prompting speculation about SBF’s location (the moniker given to the former FTX CEO).
Sam Bankman-Fried said through Twitter on Thursday that he would be closing his trading firm, Alameda Research, and on Friday, FTX, the digital asset exchange he launched in 2019, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO the same day.
According to The Financial Times, a day before seeking bankruptcy protection, the global exchange of FTX had $9 billion in liabilities to $900 million in “easily sellable assets.”
$600 million in FTX wallet breached
The disgraced founder of the insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX has denied rumors that he left for South America at the same time that $US600 million was stolen from its digital wallets amid a “hack.”
Company representatives said “unauthorized transactions” had occurred on FTX with CoinDesk reporting that a whopping $600 million had mysteriously flowed out of the exchange’s wallets. The business released a statement via its official telegram account claiming that it had been hacked.
Around the same time, rumors swirled that Mr. Sam Bankman-Fried’s private jet was en route to Argentina from his home in the Bahamas, an allegation he has denied to Reuters.
Ryne Miller, the US general counsel for FTX, disclosed on Saturday that the company had discovered “unauthorized transactions” on Friday evening.
FTX has been compromised, a manager wrote. FTX apps include viruses. Take them out. The chat window is open. Don’t visit the FTX website since it could download Trojans. After their money was stolen, some consumers claim to have a balance of $0. To prevent further thefts, FTX claimed to have relocated all digital assets to a cold storage, or offline location.
Many people hypothesized that the sophistication of the hack suggested a potential inside job, while others noted the timing was odd because it occurred on the same day the exchange collapsed.
Crypto exchange FTX founder speaks amid the meltdown
Days after FTX exchange filed for bankruptcy, company founder Sam Bankman-Fried addressed his followers in a series of tweets.
Hoping that things can find a way to recover, Mr. Bankman-Fried wrote, “ I’m really sorry, again, that we ended up here. Hopefully, things can find a way to recover. Hopefully, this can bring some amount of transparency, trust, and governance to them. Ultimately hopefully it can be better for customers.”
He added that the current situation doesn’t indicate that the company has come to an end. “This doesn’t necessarily have to mean the end for the companies or their ability to provide value and funds to their customers chiefly, and can be consistent with other routes.”
On how he is planning to provide clarity, he added, “I’m going to work on giving clarity on where things are in terms of user recovery ASAP.”
