U.S. prosecutors have opened a sweeping fraud investigation into the founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX

Key Facts

U.S. prosecutors, laying the groundwork for a potential fraud case against Sam Bankman-Fried and others involved in the collapse of cryptocurrency giant FTX, are scrutinizing how funds held by the exchange operator moved outside the US as it was hurtling toward bankruptcy, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors are closely examining whether hundreds of millions of dollars were improperly transferred to the Bahamas around the time of FTX’s Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing in Delaware, the person said, asking not to be named without authorization to discuss the case publicly.
As Justice Department officials embark on a sweeping investigation into how FTX handled customers’ cash and assets, they met this week with FTX’s court-appointed overseers to discuss materials they aim to gather, the person said.
The New York Times reported this week that federal prosecutors are also examining whether Bankman-Fried engaged in market manipulation by orchestrating trades that led to the collapse of the TerraUSD ecosystem earlier this year.