"Crypto King" Sam Bankman-Fried convicted of $8 billion FTX fraud, faces up to 110 years...

[DragonSlayer101]

What just happened? FTX founder and self-styled 'crypto king' Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on seven counts of criminal fraud and money laundering over the collapse of the once-popular cryptocurrency exchange. Bankman-Fried is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, 2024, and could face up to 110 years in federal prison if he gets the maximum sentence. He is slated to face a second trial on five additional charges next year. Before the crypto exchange went bankrupt, he was one of the richest men in the world with a net worth of over $15 billion.

Bankman-Fried was convicted on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, as well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. The trial began last month, with Bankman-Fried pleading 'not guilty' to all the charges. However, a 12-member jury in a Manhattan federal court found him guilty on all counts of stealing $8 billion from cryptocurrency investors. The jury deliberated for only 4.5 hours before returning their verdict.

Talking to reporters after the verdict, US attorney Damian Williams commended the jury for its decision and said that his department would not tolerate any kind of fraud. Describing Bankman-Fried as one of the biggest financial fraudsters in American history, Williams said that the case was about "lying, cheating and stealing, and we have no patience for it."

In a statement released after the verdict, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the case once again demonstrates the Justice Department's dedication to holding accountable all criminals, including individuals that "hide their crimes behind a shiny new thing they claim no one else is smart enough to understand."

Bankman-Fried's lawyer Mark Cohen said that his team respects the decision, but is "very disappointed with the result." He also claimed that Bankman-Fried acted in good faith and will "continue to vigorously fight the charges against him."

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas last year after prosecutors filed charges against him for defrauding investors in FTX by siphoning money from the crypto exchange to his hedge fund, Alameda Research. The prosecutors also noted that Bankman-Fried repeatedly lied about the fate of the laundered money by assuring investors via social media and television ads that their investments were safe.

Testifying in his own defense, Bankman-Fried admitted that he made mistakes running FTX, but maintained his innocence throughout the course of the trial. He denied stealing investor funds and claimed that he truly believed Alameda's borrowing from FTX was legal. He also said that by the time he realized something was amiss, it was already too late and the companies were on the verge of collapse.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100725-crypto-king-sam-bankman-fried-convicted-8-billion.html

 

[RudyBob]

Sometimes leniency is warranted. I think in this case 109 years would suffice

 

[p51d007]

Wonder if he has any "info" on others, that he would use to get a lighter sentence.

 

[takaozo]

Wonder if he has any "info" on others, that he would use to get a lighter sentence.

Even if the conviction is only half, it will still die in prison.

 

[Kashim]

Wonder if he has any "info" on others, that he would use to get a lighter sentence.

I assume you haven't actually followed what happened during the trial. All his "henchmen" pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him. If he had any info on anyone else he would've tried to throw them under the bus long ago.

 

[brunocasarini]

I wonder if he's the scapegoat of a much bigger money laundering scheme...

 

[UdyrL]

I guess the crypto bank man got fried.

 

[Uncle Al]

Considering his age, I'd give him just 80 years with no time off for good behavior ..... oh yes, and give him NO internet access until the 79th year .....

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

I can imagine the wealth of information he has in the crypto world and others that the Government would be interested in. Perhaps when all this quiets down, people push it aside, another deal may come up again but not before he spends some time in prison.

 

[sdms96825]

And, he should serve every last one of them!

 

[Nobina]

Maybe before he dies in prison, they invent technology to slow down ageing, so he has to be alive until his 110-year sentence is over.

 

[gdavid65]

By the time he gets out crypto may actually be used as a legitimate currency.

 

[FaTaL]

Laundering: To conceal the source of money by channeling it through.....an... intermediary....

 

[PEnnn]

By the time he gets out crypto may actually be used as a legitimate currency.

LMAO, you're funny!!

They already tried that in some septic-tank type Third world countries....go ahead and see how well they did....

 

[PEnnn]

I bet many cryptoheads are crying bitterly over the fate of their Ponsi hero.

 

[Arbie]

Another plug for Molly White's excellent blog on the travails of crypto "Web3 Is Going Just Great". She chronicles the almost-daily scams in that sphere, and of course this one.

 

[toooooot]

Would it not be better for him if he did a smaller scam, maybe spent few years in prison and then went somewhere where he hid some of the money and lived happily?
I think it would be.

 

[nulll]

Now that this is done and dusted the resources that were targeted at taking SBF and his crew down can be redirected toward creating a publicly transparent registry of the financial dealings of every single US politician above a county office level of influence. The end result being that any US citizen can at any time make a FOIA like request to see for themselves whether those elected officials have undisclosed conflicts of interest, which they wouldn't because the implementation of said registry would preclude all but the most bone headed folks from even considering these types of shenanigans. This could also realistically be applied to any corporation receiving serious (more than a couple of million) US federal dollars in grants, contracts etc... To an extent there are already some required disclosures of this nature for companies but I feel the public is owed a bit more info when it's their money involved.

This same exact structure should also be deployed in all NAFTA partner countries as well as the other Commonwealth countries and Japan as well. No reason there should continue to be so many obviously complicit politicians at large when the US DOJ has proven how quickly they can get the work done with the correct incentive structure (SBF and co clowned half the political/celebrity class).