China News Service, March 29 (Xinhua) According to comprehensive US media reports, on the 28th local time, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the US cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Prosecutors called the case a historic event in the United States. One of the largest financial fraud cases in the world.
Data map: Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of cryptocurrency trading platform FTX.
A jury last year reportedly found the 32-year-old guilty of stealing tens of billions of dollars from FTX clients and defrauding investors and lenders at his cryptocurrency investment company, Alameda Research.
In November 2022, FTX founded by Bankman Fried collapsed almost overnight, and a run on deposits exposed an $8 billion vulnerability in FTX accounts. The following month, he was arrested at a luxury condominium in the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered.
According to reports, the seven charges against him, including fraud and money laundering, carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison. Federal prosecutors sought a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years, but his defense lawyer requested a sentence of six and a half years. Bankman-Fried's defense team will continue to appeal the conviction and sentence.
Before handing down the verdict, Bankman-Fried apologized to FTX's customers, investors and employees, saying, "A lot of people are really disappointed, they're very disappointed. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened at every stage."
However, Judge Kaplan said Bankman-Fried had shown no remorse. He said Bankman-Fried's brazen behavior, lack of remorse and the likelihood of future offending were weighed in sentencing.
The report pointed out that when Bankman-Fried testified in court, he repeatedly claimed that he could not remember key details during his tenure at FTX. "I've never seen a performance like this," Kaplan said.
According to previous reports, Bankman-Fried took advantage of the rise in Bitcoin and once accumulated a wealth of approximately US$26 billion. Before the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, he used assets “stolen” from FTX clients to donate more than $100 million to political campaigns.
According to reports, Bankman-Fried has donated to both the Democratic and Republican parties. The indictment against Bankman-Fried alleges that he used this influence to lobby Congress and regulators to introduce supportive legislation and regulations that he believed would bring more customer deposits to the cryptocurrency trading platform FTX. .