Business

America’s Justice Department charged Sam Bankman-Fried with fraud, money-laundering and violating campaign- finance laws in relation to the collapse of FTX, a crypto exchange. He was arrested in the Bahamas, where FTX is based. The department said that FTX’s “phenomenal downfall” was not a case of mismanagement, but instead one “of intentional fraud, plain and simple”. It alleges that Mr Bankman-Fried misappropriated FTX’s money for personal use, to repay debts owed by his hedge fund, Alameda, and to give millions to political candidates. It is a spectacular fall from grace for a man who had been lauded for his “effective altruism”.