Turkish Finance Ministry Takes Action for Sam Bankman Fried. The Turkish government has launched an investigation into the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. According to local media, the authorities in Ankara have also seized the assets of the founder of the troubled coin trading platform.
Turkey’s Financial Intelligence Unit is issuing another investigation related to FTX
Financial regulators in Turkey have begun investigating the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), for alleged fraud. The move follows the opening in mid-November of an investigation into the failure of the company, which manages the Turkish platform. Both investigations are carried out by the National Criminal Investigation Agency (MASAK), a unit under the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
As part of these, the authorities confiscated the assets of SBF and other partners, Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday. Speaking about the issue, the Minister of Finance of Turkey Nureddin Nebati highlighted the risks brought by digitalization as well as the opportunities, warning that the cryptocurrency market should be approached with “extreme caution”.
Amid the rising number of the national fiat currency, the lira, many Turks have invested in crypto assets over the past few years to save their money. However, the collapse of domestic trading platforms and fraud, as well as the ongoing crypto crisis, have hurt Turkish investors.
FTX, which is one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on November 11, after struggling with liquidity issues, and now in administration. Bankman-Fried resigned and the group’s new management fired three other executives.
In addition to Turkey, the same FTX company is currently being investigated in several other jurisdictions, including the United States, the Bahamas, and its main location in Japan. The exchange and its subsidiaries have also terminated their licenses in many markets. According to recent reports, the Bahamian authorities may extradite SBF to the United States for questioning.