Shortly after FTX Digital Markets filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Bahamian authorities seized $3.5 billion worth of digital assets under the control of the company based on information provided by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a statement on December 29th.

According to a statement by the regulator, citing a risk of “imminent dissipation” of the assets due to various concerns voiced by Bankman-Fried, including cyber attacks being launched against the exchange, the Bahamian Securities Commission seized various digital assets of FTX, valued at more than $3.5 billion as of Nov. 12.

According to bankruptcy filings, roughly $372 million worth of tokens were stolen from the exchange within hours of FTX filing for bankruptcy. Within a 24 hour span the failed exchange saw almost $700 million in token outflows, according to blockchain research firm Nansen.

The Bahamian Securities Commission noted it has “exclusive control” of the assets on a temporary basis, until such time as the country’s Supreme Court will allow the regulator to return them to their rightful owners, or the joint liquidators.

Those funds may help offer relief to some FTX customers who are set to lose substantial amounts of the their assets, after current chief executive John J Ray III, who is overseeing the restructuring, warned investors that due to the structuring of the business, international customers may end up with greater losses than US customers.

In the meantime, Bahamian investigators are examining the web of relationships between bankrupt FTX.com, which had been registered locally as FTX Digital Markets Ltd., and Bankman-Fried’s trading firm Alameda Research.

Bloomberg news reported that now the Department of Justice has begun a separate probe into the stolen assets which will be separate from the criminal fraud case being brought against Bankman-Fried.