Former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman Freed was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for committing one of the biggest financial crimes in U.S. history.
Mr. Bankman Freed (32 years old) Convicted in November The charges include seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, as well as conspiracy to commit commodity fraud and securities fraud.
Prosecutors had asked Judge Lewis Kaplan to sentence Bankman-Fried, who could have received up to 110 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Between 40 and 50 years He was jailed for what they called a “historic fraud.” Bankman-Freed's lawyer had argued for a sentence of no more than six-and-a-half years in prison, arguing that Bankman-Freed was unlikely to reoffend.
At Thursday's hearing, Kaplan said the 25-year sentence “reflects the risk that this man will be in a position to do some very bad things in the future. And that's not a trivial risk.” . The judge added that this was “with the aim of causing him disability for a significant period of time to the extent reasonably possible”.
Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the sentence “sends an important message to those who may commit financial crimes that justice will be swift and the consequences will be harsh.” '' he added.
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Bankman Fried's lawyers argued that their client had no intention of defrauding his customers and that Judge Kaplan should therefore show leniency. “Sam was not a ruthless financial serial killer who set out every morning to hurt people,” defense attorney Mark Mukasey said, Reuters reported. According to the report, Mukasey described his own client as an “awkward math geek” who tried to get his client's money back after FTX went bankrupt.
Bankman Fried is expected to appeal the conviction, but former federal prosecutor Andrei Spector said there was little chance the verdict would be overturned. “There's nothing anyone can do about it,” Spector said.
Some experts believed that Mr. Bankman-Fried's education and connections helped him “avoid criminal liability for his actions,” but “other experts believe he faces many more years in prison.” “I believed that it would be given to me,” he said. Case Western Reserve University.
“I think I was kind of in the middle. I quickly realized that this was a different crime and that the judge was actually going to hold him accountable for his actions,” she said. . Aron Beck compared the Bankman Freed sentence to the Section 11.5 sentence given to disgraced Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes. He was sentenced to several years in prison for defrauding investors. “In the case of SBF, the sentence was more than double,” she said.
According to Reuters, Bankman-Fried apologized to his former FTX colleagues during the sentencing hearing. “They put a lot of effort into it and I threw it all away. I think about it every day,” Bankman Freed told the judge. “I'm sorry for that. . I'm sorry for what happened every step of the way,” he added. What you should do, what you should say, and what you shouldn't do. ”
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Mr. Bankman Freed was convicted last fall. The surprising 2022 FTX collapse, the cryptocurrency trading platform he co-founded and led as CEO amid an $8 billion funding shortfall. At trial, he was accused of using depositors' funds to prop up a struggling hedge fund and using the funds to buy luxury real estate in the Caribbean and donate to various causes. .
FTX was once the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, allowing users to buy and sell dozens of cryptocurrencies, while Bankman Fried's wealth was estimated at more than $30 billion. Bankman Fried has raised billions of dollars in investor cash. super bowl ad Purchase arena naming rights to promote FTX Used by the NBA's Miami Heat.
However, the collapse of crypto prices in 2022 caused FTX to malfunction, ultimately leading to its collapse. FTX's hedge fund affiliate Alameda Research made billions of dollars in crypto investments that have plummeted in value. Prosecutors alleged that Bankman Fried sought to shore up Alameda's balance sheet with FTX customer funds.
Three former FTX employees testified against Bankman Freed after pleading guilty to related crimes. Among them was Bankman Freed's ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, who claimed: he put pressure on her to commit fraud.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
