All of the documents the SEC released on Sam Bankman-Fried’s accusations and arrest, according to the chair of a U.S. House oversight subcommittee, were available to the general public at the time.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was criticized by Michigan Representative Bill Huizenga, the head of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, for failing to provide pertinent records regarding the timing of charges and the arrest of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
Rep. Huizenga brought up the SEC’s failure to adequately respond to the congressional committee during an oversight hearing on June 22 by pointing out that it had only supplied documents about SBF’s charges and arrest that were already available to the public.
Rep. Huizenga emphasized that the SEC’s failure to meet a deadline of February 24 for submitting documents raised questions about its procedures and cooperation with the Department of Justice in connection with SBF’s case.
Rep. Huizenga questioned the SEC’s given materials, saying they mostly consisted of public briefings on the SEC and Justice Department’s cooperation in SBF’s case.
According to Megan Barbero, chief counsel for the SEC, some papers were easier to release to the committee than others because they didn’t need to be approved by the commission.
Barbero noted that the commission’s action memo was a priority for balancing concerns regarding the release of records because it contains information that could jeopardize the parallel criminal investigation and civil enforcement action.
Bankman-Fried was stationed in the Bahamas when FTX filed for bankruptcy, and the SEC started looking into him after he was supposed to testify before the House Financial Services Committee in December. At the same time, there was an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged misbehavior at FTX. Before giving his congressional evidence, Bankman-Fried was subsequently detained and extradited to the United States.
Multiple charges against Bankman-Fried will be the subject of two criminal trials that will start in October 2023 and March 2024. His civil lawsuits from the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have also been filed, but they have been postponed until the criminal case is over.
Related: Sam Bankman-Fried to Face Two Criminal Trials for Alleged Fraud