Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of all seven federal counts in the FTX fraud case and is now facing decades in prison after misusing and losing $8 billion of customer funds.
FTX founder Sam-Bankman-Fried faces decades in jail after being found guilty on all charges.
The 31-year-old former billionaire will be given his sentence on March 28 next year after he was convicted on seven counts federal counts of fraud and conspiracy in connection with losing $8 billion of customer funds in his cryptocurrency exchange – which at its peak of success was worth an estimated $32 billion – after first being arrested nearly a year ago in the Bahamas.
Damian Williams, the US attorney, said: “Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history – a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the king of crypto.”
He added: “This case has always been about lying, cheating and stealing, and we have no patience for it.”
Sam – who was found guilty after the jury deliberated for just five hours – had plead not guilty to all charges after all his former co-workers like Caroline Ellison, 28, and Gary Wang all admitted their culpability and testified against their former boss while his lawyer admitted he was “very disappointed”.
Mark Cohen, Sam’s attorney – who argued during proceedings that his client had acted in good faith while making the mistakes – said: “We respect the jury’s decision. But we are very disappointed with the result.
“Mr Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him
Sam – who was once dubbed as the ‘King of Crypto’ – was accused of using FTX customer money to fund his other venture, Alameda Research – which he used to donate to both US major political parties – and his story has been widely documented like in the book by journalist Micheal Lewis, ‘Going Infinite’.
Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty in FTX fraud case
