[ad_1]
Former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman Fried was found guilty Thursday of involvement in the 2022 collapse of FTX, once one of the world’s most popular digital currency trading platforms, after decades of He faces the possibility of prison time.
Bankman Fried, 32, was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy in November, but he and his company have received Super Bowl ads and endorsements from star players including quarterback Tom Brady. That’s down significantly from a year ago, when the company seemed to be riding the crest of success. and comedian Larry David.
Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel
The jury found that Mr. Bankman Freed unlawfully used funds from FTX depositors to cover expenses including purchasing luxury real estate in the Caribbean and bribing Chinese officials and private planes.
Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 40 to 50 years in prison.
The defendants victimized tens of thousands of people and businesses over multiple years and on multiple continents. He stole money from customers who had entrusted it to him. He lied to investors. He sent forged documents to the lender. He funneled millions of dollars in illegal contributions into our political system. And he bribed foreign officials. In court filings, prosecutors told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that both of these crimes merited long sentences.
Bankman-Freed’s lawyers, friends and family are asking for leniency, saying he is unlikely to reoffend. They also say FTX investors recovered most of their funds from claims disputed by bankruptcy attorneys, FTX and its creditors.
FTX CEO John Ray, who is cleaning up the bankrupt company, wrote that Bankman Fried continues to live a life of delusion. The business he left on November 11, 2022 was neither solvent nor secure.
Two weeks ago, Bankman Freed’s lawyer Mark Mukasey attacked the Probation Service’s recommendation for a 100-year sentence, saying a sentence of that length would be grotesque and barbaric.
He asked the judge to sentence Bankman-Fried to five to six-and-a-half years in prison.
“Sam is not the evil genius portrayed in the media or the greedy villain portrayed at trial,” Mukasey said, calling his client a first-time nonviolent criminal.
Bankman Fried was worth billions of dollars on paper as co-founder and CEO of FTX, which at one time was the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange.
FTX has enabled investors to buy dozens of cryptocurrencies, from Bitcoin to obscure cryptocurrencies like Shiba Inu Coin. Enriched with billions of dollars in investor cash, Bankman Fried ran Super Bowl ads to promote his business and bought the naming rights to an arena in Miami.
However, the crypto price crash in 2022 dealt a major blow to FTX, ultimately leading to its collapse. FTX’s hedge fund affiliate, known as Alameda Research, had purchased billions of dollars of various crypto investments that lost significant value in 2022. Bankman Freed sought to fill holes in Alameda’s balance sheet with FTX client funds.
Three other members of Mr. Bankman Fried’s inner circle have pleaded guilty to related crimes and testified at his trial.
The biggest name of the three was Bankman Freed’s former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison. Ms Ellison described Mr Bankman Freed as a calculating person who knew she could commit a crime when she directed the use of her clients’ funds.
Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, former friends of Bankman Freed, also testified that they felt Bankman Freed directed them to commit fraud.
[ad_2]
Source link