Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX, has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for defrauding and stealing billions of dollars from clients of the cryptocurrency platform. The sentence was handed down by US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in federal court in Manhattan. Despite Bankman-Fried’s claims of remorse for the collapse of FTX, which uncovered a fraud of about 10 billion dollars, Judge Kaplan dismissed his statement, stating that he was not truly sorry and focused on the seriousness of the crime.
During the trial, prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of diverting billions of dollars from FTX to its sister hedge fund, Alameda Research, to spend on speculative investments, political donations, and expensive real estate assets. As market volatility hit in 2022, lenders began asking for their money back. In response, Bankman-Fried used FTX client funds to pay them back. However, an avalanche of customer withdrawals led to FTX filing for bankruptcy in November 2022 and Bankman-Fried resigning as CEO.
The conviction came after a lengthy trial where prosecutors presented evidence showing that Bankman-Fried had knowingly committed fraud and stolen billions of dollars from FTX clients. Despite initially denying any wrongdoing and alleging that he and his cryptocurrency empire were victims of market crashes, Bankman-Fried faced up to 110 years behind bars after being found guilty last year of seven crimes including fraud and conspiracy according to Bloomberg agency.