Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted on All Seven Charges in FTX Fraud Case
Mitchell Nixon
Following a five-week trial, a New York jury has determined that Sam Bankman-Fried engaged in fraudulent activities against his customers and lenders.
Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, has been found guilty on several charges, which include two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of commodities fraud conspiracy, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
“The verdict unanimous, your honour.”
His sentencing will be scheduled at a later date by New York District Judge Lewis Kaplan. If convicted on all counts, Bankman-Fried could potentially face a maximum prison sentence of 110 years. Notably, wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy carry a maximum 20-year sentence.
In a significant development, other key executives from FTX, such as former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and former FTX engineering head Nishad Singh, have already pleaded guilty to various charges and cooperated with the government to testify against Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried had initially entered a plea of not guilty for all the charges brought against him. Throughout his trial, he testified in his own defence, maintaining his innocence and attributing FTX’s November 2022 collapse to “a number of big mistakes.” He vehemently denied any wrongdoing in FTX’s association with Alameda and sought to create a separation from pivotal decisions made during that period.
His trial commenced in early October, where federal prosecutors aimed to portray him as an individual who intentionally aimed to misappropriate approximately $8 billion of his customers’ funds. These funds were allegedly diverted for various purposes, such as real estate acquisitions, sports sponsorships, and venture investments.
In contrast, Bankman-Fried’s defence team contended that he was an overburdened entrepreneur who erred in assuming that the funds he utilised belonged to the respective companies rather than their customers or investors.
Approximately a year ago, FTX experienced a significant downturn following the publication of a CoinDesk article. This report disclosed the substantial holdings of FTX’s exchange token, FTT, by Alameda. This revelation, coupled with tweets from Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, triggered what Bankman-Fried characterised as a “rush on FTX,” ultimately resulting in FTX, Alameda, and their associated subsidiaries seeking bankruptcy protection.
What a mess this has been, hopefully this is the end.