SAM Bankman-Fried at court on Tuesday. Photo: Austin Fernander
By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis has once again insisted that the collapse of FTX has nothing to do with The Bahamas, saying “you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors”.
The collapse of the crypto giant has grabbed local and international headlines, with some scrutiny and criticism being levelled at The Bahamas government and its digital regulatory framework.
“You know, what is sad is that FTX’s liquidation is not the only company, major large company that would’ve went into liquidation in The Bahamas,” Mr Davis told reporters Friday. “We had Commodore. We had Banco Ambrosiano. We had Nassau Bank and Trust, many of them that had a lot of ricocheting effect.
“It’s like saying that The Bahamas lacks (a) regulatory (regime). It is not the lacking of regulatory regime. It is actually bad actors and bad actors all countries have. What about Enron in the United States? What about those major collapses? And looking at what’s happening in the tech industry. You start seeing some of these same tech giants falling as well.
“So, it has nothing to do with our reputation or what we do. When you have bad actors, you have a regime to be able to identify them and get them out and we have that regime in place and so you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors and we are ferreting out the bad actors.”
Mr Davis also said he believed his administration will soon have some answers related to the FTX debacle “to set the record straight”.
FTX, which is headquartered in The Bahamas, along with its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in the US last month after facing a liquidity crisis and coming under scrutiny following reports that it mismanaged customer assets.
Investigations into the firm’s failure led to last week’s arrest of FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces several fraud charges in the US, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit fraud and violating campaign finance laws.
The disgraced former billionaire is currently on remand at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services after being denied bail by Chief Magistrate Joyann-Ferguson Pratt.
A prison official reportedly told the Washington Post that the 30-year-old spends his time behind bars watching movies and reading articles about himself until he can be freed from the facility.
The Tribune can confirm that attorneys representing the embattled former FTX CEO filed for a new bail application in the Supreme Court on Thursday.
And, according to multiple reports, the 30-year-old is expected to appear in court again today to reverse his decision to fight extradition to the United States.
Lawyers did not return calls for comment on the matter up to press time last night.
Comments
K4C 1 year, 4 months ago
you blame the bad actors ?
Does Davis have a mirror ?
ExposedU2C 1 year, 4 months ago
Spot on! His own words deservedly come back at him like a boomerang to whack him but good on his fat head.
Porcupine 1 year, 4 months ago
PM Davis says, “So, it has nothing to do with our reputation or what we do. When you have bad actors, you have a regime to be able to identify them and get them out and we have that regime in place and so you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors and we are ferreting out the bad actors.”
Why do we attract so many bad actors, welcoming them in like old friends?, I ask.
The true failures in our country have nothing to do with foreign bad actors, and absolutely everything to do with Bahamian bad actors. We ain't doing very well at ferreting them out, are we? We keep electing them every 5 years, wondering why murder rates are skyrocketing, other crime increasing, poverty increasing, infrastructure crumbling, water going off, traffic fatalities up, and the list goes on, doesn't it?
Isn't it rather clear that the ferreting starts here at home first?
Is this not common sense and rather apparent?
TalRussell 1 year, 4 months ago
The most senior members of the Bahamian governing PLP governing party must know that their attempts at minting stories that will forever hide FTX's Sam Banker-Fried's monies, said be in the tens millions dollars dollars, never crossed paths with the 16 Sept 2021 Bahamian General Election - will be impossible remain out of the reach the US Southern District's team of about 220 assistant U.S. attorneys, — Yes?
moncurcool 1 year, 4 months ago
Is this not the most stupidest statement the PM has made? If we have the regime why did the regime not see the problem with FTX and stop it before the bad actors did their stuff?
Davis really needs to just spend some time and thin before he opens his mouth to speak.
ted4bz 1 year, 4 months ago
When you have bad actors, you get them out…” Out of what? You mean you get them out of the trouble they are in so that you keep them (and yourself) out of prison, is that it? You have to read between the lines when they drop their jaws, because these sneaky politicians speak in riddles.
TalRussell 1 year, 4 months ago
Not saying that Sam Bankman-Fried's campaign money never crossed over into the 16 September 2021 Bahamian General Election path of the former governing RedParty.
Can you point me to a time when any member of the media, ever posed such Sam Bankerman-Fried money questions to either of the two parties?
Makes total sense when all were looking at a handout from the BoyMan's fake billionaire, - Yes?
ExposedU2C 1 year, 4 months ago
Thanks to you and your kind Davis, The Bahamas has become well known around the world as the Nigeria of the West indian/Caribbean region.
rqd2 1 year, 4 months ago
The Bahamas better charge SBF and keep him for trial. Once he is extradited he will never help recover money for the Bahamians. Davis wants him gone but a smart politician would charge him and keep him so The Bahamas can recover first. Davis doesn't want Sam talking about the "donations" he had to make.
TalRussell 1 year, 4 months ago
In wake of FTX’s collapse comes the delayed implosion vigor Branville McCartney, doing his damnedest best represent the best interests of the Village Road Law Firm's High Net Worth Clients, --- Yes?
rosiepi 1 year, 4 months ago
Today’s lunacy in a Bahamian court room might be business as usual for Bahamians seeking justice but with the world’s media spotlight on how this government conducts it’s ‘business’, Davis hypocrisy is laced with buffoonery…
TalRussell 1 year, 4 months ago
Still untold is the who and why the Bahamian government were willing risk their 16 Day of September 2021's governing mandate, behind the façade was something completely of Sam Bankman-Fried's making that was no more than a bunch of romantically involved crypto kids running shady operations out in the open under the Bahamian sunlight.
A good start for New York's Southern District's team of about 220 assistant U.S. attorneys, would be to focus on the source funding 2021 Bahamas new government swearing-in at Baha Mar Resort, — Yes?
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