Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering in Federal court. The former FTX CEO is facing over one hundred years in prison for abusing customer funds and treating them as if they were his own.
Bankman-Fried ineptly took the stand in his defense while his team of managers and friends confirmed that he was in charge and aware what he was doing was wrong. Rather than helping redefine the global economy with crypto's wild yet intangible value, Bankman-Fried turned his entire exchange into a confidence scam.
The 31-year-old former cryptocurrency billionaire was convicted of two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, charges that each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which each carry a five-year maximum sentence.
"Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest frauds in American history, a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the king of crypto," Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a news briefing following the verdict. "Here's the thing: the cryptocurrency industry might be new. The players like Sam Bankman-Fried might be new. This kind of fraud, this kind of corruption, is as old as time, and we have no patience for it."
Yet another superstar tech startup CEO in jail.
