FTX Founder Convicted in Fraud Case

(RepublicanPress.org) – In 2018, 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried started the FTX Exchange, a former leading cryptocurrency exchange that specialized in leveraged products and derivatives. In late 2022, Bankman-Fried resigned, and the exchange — once valued at over $32 billion — went bankrupt. Many of his clients lost big, as they weren’t able to recover their funds. But this wasn’t just a simple case of business failure; the former head of the exchange was indicted on multiple charges of fraud. Now, his trial is over.

On November 2, the court found Bankman-Fried guilty of seven criminal charges related to the FTX scheme. Those criminal acts included securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. It didn’t take long for the jury to come back with a guilty verdict against the man once thought of as a genius in finance. According to NPR, the defendant’s attorney, Mark Cohen, saidthat while the defense respects the court’s decision, they were “very disappointed with the result.” Bankman-Fried insists he is innocent, and his attorney vowed to “fight the charges.”

BREAKING: A New York jury convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried of fraud in a scheme that cheated customers and investors out of at least $10 billion US. https://t.co/QgMHb1ur28.

— CBC News (@CBCNews) November 3, 2023

During the trial, the prosecution outlined how the defendant and some of his executives secretly moved billions in customer assets from the exchange to a trading firm Bankman-Fried also owned — Alameda Research. The founder then used that private firm as his own stash of cash, buying his loved ones lavish gifts, making political donations, and investing to multiply the money. In a statement, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, called it “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”

Several other FTX and Alameda executives were also charged in the scheme. Three of them pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Bankman-Fried to lighten their punishments.

Now, the “King of Crypto” faces a lifetime behind bars. If the judge goes for the maximum, Bankman-Fried could spend up to 110 years in prison for his crimes. He will find out his fate on March 28, 2024.