new york | Former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman Fried, facing the possibility of decades in prison, appeared in a New York court on Thursday to assess punishment for his role in the 2022 FTX collapse. He was waiting to hear his fate as sentencing proceedings began. The world's most popular digital currency trading platform.
Mr. Bankman Fried, 32, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in November, but he has received celebrity endorsements from Super Bowl ads and stars like quarterback Tom and his This is a dramatic decline from a year ago, when the company seemed to be riding the crest of success. Brady and comedian Larry David.
The jury found that Mr. Bankman Freed unlawfully used funds from FTX depositors to cover lavish spending. Authorities said the spending included buying luxury real estate in the Caribbean, flying private jets, making large charitable donations and contributions to politicians, and paying bribes to Chinese officials. .
Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 40 to 50 years in prison.
“The defendant victimized tens of thousands of people and businesses over multiple years and on multiple continents. He stole money from customers who entrusted them with money. He lied to investors. He sent forged documents to lenders. He funneled millions of dollars in illegal contributions into our political system. And he bribed foreign officials. Each of these crimes merits long prison sentences.” prosecutors told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in a court filing.
Bankman-Freed's lawyers, friends and family are asking for leniency, saying he is unlikely to reoffend. They also say FTX investors have recovered most of their money, a claim disputed by bankruptcy lawyers, FTX and its creditors.
“Mr. Bankman Freed continues to live a life of delusion,” wrote FTX CEO John Ray, who is cleaning up the bankrupt company. “The ‘business’ he left on November 11, 2022, was neither solvent nor secure.”
Two weeks ago, Bankman Freed's lawyer Mark Mukasey attacked the Probation Service's recommendation for a 100-year sentence, saying such a long sentence would be “grotesque” and “barbaric”.
He asked the judge to sentence Bankman-Freed to five to six-and-a-half years in prison, which Mukasey said was a fair interpretation of federal sentencing guidelines.
“Sam is neither the 'evil genius' portrayed in the media nor the greedy villain portrayed at trial,” Mukasey said, calling his client “the first non-violent offender.”
Bankman Fried was worth billions of dollars on paper as co-founder and CEO of FTX, which at one time was the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange.
FTX has enabled investors to buy dozens of cryptocurrencies, from Bitcoin to obscure cryptocurrencies like Shiba Inu Coin. Enriched with billions of dollars in investor cash, Bankman Fried ran Super Bowl ads to promote his business and bought the naming rights to an arena in Miami.
However, the crypto price crash in 2022 dealt a major blow to FTX, ultimately leading to its collapse. FTX's hedge fund affiliate, known as Alameda Research, had purchased billions of dollars of various crypto investments that lost significant value in 2022. Bankman Freed sought to fill holes in Alameda's balance sheet with FTX client funds.
Three other members of Mr. Bankman Fried's inner circle have pleaded guilty to related crimes and testified at his trial.
The biggest name of the three was Bankman Freed's former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison. Ms Ellison described Mr Bankman Freed as a calculating person who knew she could commit a crime when she directed the use of her clients' funds. Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, former friends of Bankman Freed, also testified that they felt Bankman Freed directed them to commit fraud.
