Bahamas AG: FTX Under ‘Active’ Investigation

Fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX remains under “active investigation” in its home country of the Bahamas, the island nation’s chief prosecutor said.

In a video message released Sunday (Nov. 27) evening, Ray Pinder defended his country’s response to the collapse of the crypto exchange, saying that “guessing games and rumors” had overshadowed the facts of the case.

Pinder said the Securities Commission of The Bahamas moved “swiftly” by suspending FTX Digital Markets’ license and naming provisional liquidators.

“We understand the enormous interest in this story but as a government, we decided right away that what was most important was not to engage with speculation or gossip, but instead to proceed methodically and deliberately in accordance with the exercise of due process and the rule of law,” Pinder said.

FTX filed for bankruptcy protection for itself and 134 of its companies earlier this month following a liquidity crisis that left it owing billions of dollars to countless creditors.

In the wake of its collapse, a number of civil and criminal enforcement bodies have begun asking questions about the exchange, including in the Bahamas, where police reportedly interviewed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried around the time of the bankruptcy.

Pinder said Sunday the investigation into FTX was complex, ongoing, and involves civil and criminal authorities.

He said that the Bahamas Securities Commission, Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Financial Crimes Unit of the island police force would “continue to investigate the facts and circumstances regarding FTX’s insolvency crisis, and any potential violations of Bahamian law.”

PYMNTS reported this weekend that Bankman-Fried is also under investigation in Turkey, whose Financial Crimes Investigation Board, also known as MASAK, says it is looking to seize “suspicious assets” tied to the company.

MASAK said its investigations have found that customer trust was “not duly preserved” by FTX and that there is a “strong suspicion of crime” being committed by Bankman-Fried, the company’s former CEO.

On Twitter Sunday, Bankman-Fried retweeted a series of tweets related to Pinder’s address, including one dealing with the prosecutor’s comment that FTX’s new CEO had “misrepresented” Bahamian regulators’ actions in court filings.

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