2024-03-29 00:52:16
FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). (Photo/Dazhi/Associated Press)
The founder and CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12, 2022, at the request of the U.S. government for financial crimes. The authorities arrested him and extradited him to his country for trial. Now Senior Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York also announced on the 28th Eastern Time that he sentenced SBF to a total of 25 years in prison.
according to”Associated Press》reported that FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 12, 2022, and was called by prosecutors one of the largest financial fraud cases in U.S. history. The jury found SBF guilty of seven crimes on November 2 last year, including two counts of wire fraud, four counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In this regard, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos had recommended that SBF be sentenced to 40 to 50 years in prison to achieve a deterrent effect and protect the public. “This is the only way to ensure that the defendant will not commit the same crime once more.”
Now Kaplan announced the sentencing result in a Manhattan court on the 28th. The jury finally ruled that SBF was guilty of all seven counts and sentenced him to a total of 25 years in prison, but this was far lower than the 40 to 50 years the prosecutor requested. In this regard, Kaplan said that SBF still has no remorse. “He often evades his words, nitpicks, avoids questions, and has never shown an ounce of remorse for the horrific crimes he committed.”
Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. (Photo/Dazhi/Associated Press)
The 32-year-old SBF, who was wearing a beige short-sleeved top that day, admitted to the judge in court that FTX’s clients had been tortured and apologized to his former colleagues at FTX, but he never admitted that he had committed a crime. Four months ago, he even claimed that he intended to revolutionize the emerging cryptocurrency market with innovative and altruistic ideas, not to steal funds.
SBF was once a super star in the cryptocurrency world. He founded FTX in 2019, which was one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms in the world at the time. In 2021, the exchange already has millions of users and annual revenue of nearly $1 billion. Unexpectedly, in November 2022, due to the plummeting value of cryptocurrency, which triggered a run on customers, FTX eventually collapsed, causing customers to lose more than 11 billion US dollars. SBF fled to the Bahamas for this reason, but was arrested in December and extradited to the United States for trial.
SBF was accused of transferring FTX users’ funds to its hedge fund Alameda Research, which was used to make millions of dollars in high-risk investments, bribe Chinese officials, political donations and purchase of luxury real estate. Both FTX and Alameda Research eventually went bankrupt in 2022. .
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