2023-11-03 19:30:41
© Reuters
By Luc Cohen and Jody Godoy
NEW YORK (Reuters) – FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of stealing customers from the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the former’s downfall. -31 year old billionaire.
A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts after a month-long trial in which prosecutors argued he stole $8 billion from FTX users out of pure greed.
The verdict came just a year after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in a swift corporate collapse that shocked financial markets and erased his personal fortune estimated at $26 billion.
The jury reached its verdict after just over four hours of deliberations. Bankman-Fried, who had pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy, stood facing the jury with her hands folded in front of her as the verdict was read.
The conviction was a victory for the U.S. Department of Justice and Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, who has made rooting out corruption in financial markets one of his top priorities.
“The cryptocurrency industry may be new, the players like Sam Bankman-Fried may be new, but this type of fraud is as old as time and we have no patience for it,” Williams told reporters.
Once the darling of the cryptocurrency world, Bankman-Fried – known for his tousled curly hair and wearing shorts and t-shirts rather than business attire – joins the likes of Bernie Madoff, who admitted to a pyramid scheme, and Jordan Belfort , fraudster from “The Wolf of Wall Street”, as well as notable people convicted of major financial crimes in the USA.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan set Bankman-Fried’s sentencing for March 28, 2024. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate could face decades in prison.
Defense attorney Mark Cohen said in a statement that he was “disappointed” but respected the jury’s decision. “Mr. Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the allegations against him,” he said.
Bankman-Fried is scheduled to stand trial next March on a second set of charges brought by prosecutors earlier this year, including alleged foreign bribery and bank fraud conspiracies.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Bankman-Fried diverted money from FTX to his cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research, despite proclaiming on social media and in television ads that the brokerage prioritized the safety of client funds.
Alameda used the money to pay creditors and make loans to Bankman-Fried and other executives – who, in turn, made risky investments and donated more than $100 million to U.S. political campaigns in an attempt to promote U.S. legislation. cryptocurrency that the defendant considered favorable to his business, according to prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried has been jailed since August after Kaplan revoked his bond, concluding he likely tampered with witnesses.
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