Bahamas Regulators Interview FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, Say They Didn't Authorize Prioritizing Local Withdrawals

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been interviewed by police and regulators in the Bahamas. 

According to a Bloomberg report, FTX’s move to allow withdrawals for residents in the Bahamas was questioned by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB). However, the commission said in a statement that it hadn’t “directed, authorized or suggested” the prioritization of local withdrawals by FTX Digital Markets Ltd.

The SCB added that it "does not condone the preferential treatment of any investor or client of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. or otherwise."

Back in the U.S., Bankman-Fried is already facing scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission over whether he may have broken any rules.

Earlier on Saturday, he quashed a report which said that he had flown to Argentina. He later confirmed to a media outlet that he is still in the Bahamas. 

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On Thursday, Bankman-Fried tweeted that he would be winding down his trading house, Alameda Research. On Friday, FTX and 130 other affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in federal court in Delaware.

A report said that the day before filing for bankruptcy protection, FTX’s global exchange had $900 million in “easily sellable assets” against $9 billion of liabilities. 

Reuters reported that as FTX filed for bankruptcy, between $1 billion to $2 billion of customer funds vanished from the failed crypto exchange.

According to the report, Bankman-Fried had transferred $10 billion of customer funds from his crypto exchange to the digital asset trading house, Alameda Research, which is the sister company of FTX.

Last week, the report added, Bankman-Fried convened a meeting with executives in Nassau to look at FTX’s books and figure out just how much cash the company needed to cover the hole in its balance sheet.