Skip to main content

Former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

 

Bankman-Fried, 32, sentenced for fraud on customers of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded.


Former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in United States federal prison for stealing $8bn from customers of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan handed down the sentence at a Manhattan court hearing on Thursday after rejecting Bankman-Fried’s claim that FTX customers did not actually lose money and accusing him of lying during his trial testimony.

A jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty on November 2 on seven fraud and conspiracy counts stemming from FTX’s 2022 collapse in what prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.

“He knew it was wrong,” Kaplan said of Bankman-Fried before handing down the sentence. “He knew it was criminal. He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught. But he is not going to admit a thing, as is his right.”

Bankman-Fried stood with his hands clasped before him as Kaplan read the sentence.

Kaplan said the sentence reflected “that there is a risk that this man will be in position to do something very bad in the future. And it’s not a trivial risk at all.”

Prior to sentencing, Bankman-Fried stood and apologised. “A lot of people feel really let down. And they were very let down. And I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about what happened at every stage,” he said.

My useful life is probably over. It’s been over for a while now, from before my arrest.

Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York, said that Bankman-Fried could have received up to 110 years behind bars for his crimes and that the 25-year sentence was less than the 40-50 years that prosecutors were seeking.

“Given the scale of this crime, one of the largest frauds in history, the judge took a very strong stance but also showed some flexibility… perhaps based on the arguments made by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers and his family that he had always intended to do good”, she said.

Bankman-Fried had billed himself as a proponent of effective altruism – finding the best way to help other people, in particular by donating all or part of one’s wealth to charity rather than, say, volunteering at a soup kitchen.

When the cryptocurrency world lurched into crisis in the spring of 2022, he bought shares in the troubled platform BlockFi and another troubled company, Voyager.

However, prosecutors have said the responsible image he cultivated concealed his years-long embezzlement of customer funds.

“The defendant victimised tens of thousands of people and companies, across several continents, over a period of multiple years. He stole money from customers who entrusted it to him” prosecutors said in a court filing.

Source: aljazeera.com

Comments

Contact us

Name

Email *

Message *

Popular posts from this blog

Cryptocurrencies Adding to the Safety and Security in the UK Gambling Industry

These are exciting times for the UK gambling industry. The impact of internet technology is now being felt with online gambling now controlling the industry.  The adoption of cutting-edge technology is reasonable for the boom in the industry. From live casinos, mobile apps to artificial intelligence, incredible trends continue shaping the gambling industry. However, it is the rise of cryptocurrency casinos that seeks to redefine UK gambling.  Many operators now include crypto coins such as bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin as part of their banking methods. Others offer exclusive bitcoin payments and promotions based on digital tokens. This revolutionary trend has a huge impact due to enhanced safety and security on these platforms. Players looking for peace of mind when playing online now opt to use cryptocurrencies. This post looks at how cryptos guarantee the safety and security of players at online casinos. How Cryptocurrency Gambling Works There’s a lot of talk about cryptocurrency,

Will Solana (SOL) Be the Shining Star of the Bull Market?

About 250,000 to 700,000 SOL have been sold daily by FTX for the last three weeks. SOL’s price jumped above $60, as GSOL’s premium also increased. While the price may retrace, it may not take long before SOL hits $70. Despite being a notable casualty of the FTX contagion in 2022, Solana (SOL) has defied all odds in 2023, as the price continues to outshine its peers. In the last 30 days, the value of SOL has increased by 180%, rising as high as $62 on November 11. However, the rising price of SOL is not the only interesting thing the token has shown by the token. For a token that was once described as dead, it has shown tremendous strength. Coin Edition came to this conclusion because of a post by trader Bluntz Capital. The Big Players Are Here According to Bluntz, FTX, after getting the go-ahead to liquidate its assets, has been selling around 250,000 to 700,000 daily for the last three weeks. Regardless of the sales, SOL has failed to nosedive. Rather, the price has chosen the upside

Terra Classic Community Passes Major Constructive Proposal, LUNC And USTC To $1?

  The Terra Luna Classic community has passed another key proposal as they prepare for a revival of Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) and repeg USTC stablecoin to $1.  The proposal aimed at having a guideline for a pay-per-job approach on the Terra Classic chain as core developer L1TF goes into maintenance mode for Q4. Meanwhile, the community is also collaborating on other fronts to keep LUNC and USTC above key support levels as traders started booking profits amid the latest pullback in the crypto market. Terra Luna Classic Passes Pay Per Job Proposal Proposal 11889 “Pay-per-job and governance-ruled Job List” has passed successfully. The proposal deemed the monthly model of roadmap and payment planning as suboptimal and plans to switch to a pay-per-job model. The proposal has received 91.99% “Yes” votes, with others mostly voting “Abstain”. The community believes it will optimize compensation structure, provide flexibility and transparency, boost community engagement, and risk mitigation. A