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FTX Facing Criminal Probe By Bahamas Authorities, But Musk Counters There Will Be...

• https://www.zerohedge.com, by Tyler Durden

Amid growing speculation of his whereabouts, Bloomberg reports that Sam Bankman-Fried was interviewed by Bahamian police and regulators on Saturday, although Bloomberg was quick to add that in the Bahamas, law-enforcement inquiries don't necessarily mean someone will be arrested or charged with a crime.

In a separate report, Bloomberg also notes that the Bahamian police said they're working with the Bahamas Securities Commission to investigate whether there was any criminal misconduct in the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX (narrator: there was).

"In light of the collapse of FTX globally and the provisional liquidation of FTX Digital Markets Ltd., a team of financial investigators from the Financial Crimes Investigation Branch are working closely with the Bahamas Securities Commission to investigate if any criminal misconduct occurred," a police spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.

Separately, CoinTelegraph adds that in addition to SBF, the low profile FTX co-founder Gary Wang and director of engineering Nishad Singh are also said to be in the Bahamas and are "under supervision" by the local authorities. A source familiar with the matter told Cointelegraph that the three former FTX executives, as well as Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, are looking for ways to flee to Dubai. While the plan was made assuming that the United States "doesn't have any extradition treaties" with the UAE, the nations signed a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) back on Feb. 24, 2022, to work against criminals.

"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 CT 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." However, community member coinbureau cited his source in the U.S. government to confirm that FTX members attempting to reach Dubai will get detained at the airport and sent straight back to the United States.