[
FTX cryptocurrency alternate founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced by a decide in New York to 25 years in jail for conspiring to steal $8 billion from FTX prospects.
🚨 BREAKING: Choose sentences Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in jail for billion-dollar FTX fraud. pic.twitter.com/M9HotmBma2
– Bitcoin Journal (@BitcoinMagazine) 28 March 2024
The sentence, handed down by US District Choose Lewis Kaplan, comes after Bankman-Fried was discovered responsible of seven fraud and conspiracy counts associated to the collapse of FTX in 2022. Choose Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried's claims that the shoppers didn’t lose cash and blamed them. Mendacity throughout trial.
In the course of the sentencing listening to, Bankman-Fried tried to precise remorse for the hurt triggered to FTX prospects, saying, “He’s sorry for what occurred.” Nevertheless, Choose Kaplan emphasised the seriousness of the crime, stating that FTX purchasers misplaced $8 billion, fairness traders misplaced $1.7 billion, and lenders to Bankman-Fried's hedge fund misplaced $1.3 billion. .
The decide additionally criticized Bankman-Fried's dishonesty throughout the trial, notably in relation to her information of the misuse of consumer funds. Federal prosecutors had sought a for much longer sentence, highlighting the size and influence of the monetary fraud.
Bankman-Fried's speedy rise within the cryptocurrency trade got here crashing down as a result of publicity of FTX's widespread embezzlement scheme, during which her fraudulent actions triggered important losses to traders and purchasers. Many consider this 25-year sentence is unjust, as Choose Kaplan stated earlier than the official verdict in the present day, “I’ve restricted my findings on obstruction to supporting findings – there could also be extra. The general offense stage is 60 – when you cross 43, it may possibly't go above that. The rule is life imprisonment. However the most on this case is 1320 months.”
Nicely-known whistleblower and cybersecurity skilled Edward Snowden commented on the information, saying, “It's a horrible crime, they gave him much less punishment than Chelsea Manning (35 years).”
The FTX founder was additionally the second-largest particular person donor to the Democrat Occasion within the 2021/2022 election cycle (donating over $39,800,000).