Celebrities who once endorsed the cryptocurrency platform FTX have remained notably quiet since its disgraced founder was arrested Monday.
A-listers including Tom Brady and his now ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, Shaquille O’Neal and Larry David have appeared in advertisements endorsing the cryptocurrency exchange and expressing their faith in Sam Bankman-Fried.
But they have not released any statements since the former billionaire, 30, was detained in the Bahamas — where he has been hiding since his $32 billion empire came crashing down last month – and he is now facing criminal charges in the US.
American prosecutors have filed the unspecified charges against the FTX founder, and are ‘likely to request his extradition,’ almost one month to the day from when his company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of FTX, has been arrested in the Bahamas
In the meantime, Bankman-Fried is being held in custody.
In a statement, Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said: ‘The Bahamas and the United States have a shared interest in holding accountable all individuals associated with FTX who may have betrayed the public trust and broken the law.
‘While the United States is pursuing criminal charges against SBF individually, the Bahamas will continue its own regulatory and criminal investigations into the collapse of FTX, with the continued cooperation of its law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and elsewhere.’
Just before 7pm Eastern Standard Time, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams also released a statement on Bankman-Fried’s arrest.
‘Earlier this evening, Bahamian authorities arrested Samuel Bankman-Fried at the request of the US Government, based on a sealed indictment filed by the SDNY,’ Williams wrote.
‘We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,’ the attorney continued.
Tom Brady and now ex-wife Gisele Bündchen appeared in an FTX commercial last year. They’re named in a class action lawsuit which alleges the firm’s collapse has cost consumers $11 billion
Brady was filmed at home calling around his friends to sign them up with FTX. The company marketed the ad campaign with the slogan: ‘Tom Brady is in. Are you?’
Basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal, left, and Steph Curry, right, also did commercials endorsing FTX before its stunning collapse last month. None of these celebrities have said anything about the matter, even after Bankman-Fried was arrested
The news of the FTX CEO’s arrest comes just hours before he was set to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee over the $32 billion collapse of FTX.
He was scheduled to appear virtually due to his ‘overbooked’ schedule, DailyMail.com reported before Bahamian officials announced the arrest of the disgraced CEO.
Members of the House Financial Services Committee were planning to speak with him about the collapse of the digital currency.
While he confirmed …….