The Fort Worth Press - Fallen crypto tycoon Bankman-Fried gets 25-year sentence

USD -
AED 3.67299
AFN 69.016748
ALL 89.186026
AMD 387.538268
ANG 1.80335
AOA 932.503248
ARS 965.263098
AUD 1.463585
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70233
BAM 1.76103
BBD 2.020377
BDT 119.575005
BGN 1.759205
BHD 0.376839
BIF 2900.890518
BMD 1
BND 1.292196
BOB 6.929588
BRL 5.5378
BSD 1.00063
BTN 83.591514
BWP 13.17486
BYN 3.274176
BYR 19600
BZD 2.016955
CAD 1.352201
CDF 2870.000264
CHF 0.847955
CLF 0.033444
CLP 922.809752
CNY 7.039499
CNH 7.040898
COP 4161.75
CRC 518.908698
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 99.284171
CZK 22.632903
DJF 178.185371
DKK 6.71232
DOP 60.120656
DZD 132.546656
EGP 48.704014
ERN 15
ETB 119.291554
EUR 0.89997
FJD 2.19398
FKP 0.761559
GBP 0.74893
GEL 2.714981
GGP 0.761559
GHS 15.74014
GIP 0.761559
GMD 69.000074
GNF 8644.954484
GTQ 7.74003
GYD 209.346299
HKD 7.782965
HNL 24.842428
HRK 6.799011
HTG 131.87585
HUF 355.358989
IDR 15180.65
ILS 3.79281
IMP 0.761559
INR 83.617499
IQD 1310.834782
IRR 42092.517591
ISK 136.509935
JEP 0.761559
JMD 157.212318
JOD 0.708702
JPY 144.187502
KES 129.079974
KGS 84.250268
KHR 4065.406676
KMF 441.350226
KPW 899.999433
KRW 1334.225018
KWD 0.30518
KYD 0.833881
KZT 481.131651
LAK 22095.263821
LBP 89606.428957
LKR 304.819961
LRD 200.12786
LSL 17.404556
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.75155
MAD 9.6953
MDL 17.446425
MGA 4544.39042
MKD 55.343203
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999955
MOP 8.024834
MRU 39.625428
MUR 46.098241
MVR 15.35992
MWK 1735.098145
MXN 19.381297
MYR 4.173498
MZN 63.849728
NAD 17.404713
NGN 1616.049654
NIO 36.827272
NOK 10.472335
NPR 133.744823
NZD 1.595762
OMR 0.384945
PAB 1.00063
PEN 3.7613
PGK 3.974428
PHP 56.172993
PKR 278.075185
PLN 3.843863
PYG 7788.687944
QAR 3.646227
RON 4.4773
RSD 105.356002
RUB 92.500382
RWF 1350.26112
SAR 3.751968
SBD 8.299327
SCR 13.94804
SDG 601.495108
SEK 10.18913
SGD 1.29011
SHP 0.761559
SLE 22.847303
SLL 20969.494858
SOS 571.853052
SRD 30.435501
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.755706
SYP 2512.529936
SZL 17.396903
THB 32.955501
TJS 10.636779
TMT 3.5
TND 3.034846
TOP 2.342098
TRY 34.15405
TTD 6.803591
TWD 31.990496
TZS 2730.000086
UAH 41.432109
UGX 3701.602737
UYU 41.644531
UZS 12738.159553
VEF 3622552.534434
VES 36.767113
VND 24610
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.797463
XAF 590.632991
XAG 0.032578
XAU 0.000381
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.740231
XOF 590.640968
XPF 107.383396
YER 250.324997
ZAR 17.359535
ZMK 9001.218042
ZMW 26.541868
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.0900

    13.01

    +0.69%

  • BCC

    4.1500

    141.65

    +2.93%

  • CMSD

    -0.0150

    25.005

    -0.06%

  • RIO

    1.0100

    64.58

    +1.56%

  • BTI

    0.4600

    37.9

    +1.21%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.3

    -0.15%

  • BP

    0.2200

    32.86

    +0.67%

  • NGG

    0.9300

    70.48

    +1.32%

  • CMSC

    -0.0800

    25.07

    -0.32%

  • GSK

    0.0600

    40.86

    +0.15%

  • RBGPF

    62.3600

    62.36

    +100%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    35.1

    +0.17%

  • RELX

    0.8700

    48.86

    +1.78%

  • AZN

    -1.2400

    77.14

    -1.61%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    7.08

    +0.28%

  • VOD

    0.1000

    10.11

    +0.99%

Fallen crypto tycoon Bankman-Fried gets 25-year sentence
Fallen crypto tycoon Bankman-Fried gets 25-year sentence / Photo: © AFP/File

Fallen crypto tycoon Bankman-Fried gets 25-year sentence

Disgraced cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in jail on Thursday following his conviction in one of the biggest financial fraud cases in history.

Text size:

US prosecutors were seeking a prison term of 40-50 years after a New York jury found Bankman-Fried, known by his initials SBF, guilty in November following a five-week trial that probed the one-time high roller's spectacular fall.

During the hearing Bankman-Fried told the courtroom that he was "sorry about what happened at every stage. And there are things I should've done and things I shouldn't have."

The final sentence was meted out by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan who used the hearing to carefully walk through the financial crimes committed by Bankman-Fried.

With the sentencing now done, Bankman-Fried is expected to appeal his conviction.

A New York jury found Bankman-Fried guilty in November following the lengthy trial that probed his stunning downfall.

Calling Bankman-Fried's seven-count conviction reflective of the defendant's "unmatched greed and hubris," the government's sentencing request argued for significant jail time in light of fraud it estimates at more than $10 billion.

Moreover, a lengthy sentence is necessary to "protect the public," argued US Attorney Damian Williams, who characterized Bankman-Fried as an "adept" spin doctor capable of additional malfeasance.

Calling the government's proposed sentence "barbaric," Bankman-Fried's attorneys depicted their client as a diligent young man motivated by philanthropy who got in over his head.

Their portrayal is similar to the one SBF's defense presented at trial -- which was quickly rejected by jurors after just five hours of deliberation.

Bankman-Fried's attorney's had asked for six years in prison, a sentence "that returns Sam promptly to a productive role in society," said attorneys led by Marc Mukasey.

- FTX Implosion -

A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a billionaire before the age of 30, Bankman-Fried conquered the crypto world at breakneck speed, turning FTX, a small start-up he cofounded in 2019, into the world's second largest exchange platform.

But in November 2022, the FTX empire imploded, unable to cope with massive withdrawal requests from customers panicked to learn that some of the funds stored at the company had been committed to risky operations at Bankman-Fried's personal hedge fund, Alameda Research.

During the trial, some of Bankman-Fried's closest associates said that he was key to all the decisions that saw $8 billion vanish from FTX.

This group included Caroline Ellison, the former Alameda CEO and Bankman-Fried's on-and-off-again girlfriend, who testified that Alameda had stolen "around $14 billion" from FTX clients and that Bankman-Fried "directed me to commit those crimes."

Filings from the prosecution and defense offered starkly different takes on Bankman-Fried, the son of two well regarded law professors at tony Stanford University.

"The lack of contrition is galling," said Williams, who took issue with the image of Bankman-Fried as "selfless" and "altruistic," as championed by the defense, noting he used funds for "luxury" real estate, donations to rub shoulders with political leaders, a Super Bowl television ad and "access to celebrities."

The defense's statement describes Bankman-Fried as "wracked" with remorse over the implosion of FTX.

- Recovered funds -

Bankman-Fried's attorneys also pointed to statements from FTX's current leaders expressing confidence that FTX customers and creditors would get back their money, saying in the brief, that "the harm to customers, lenders and investors is zero."

That argument drew a scathing response from FTX Trading Chief Executive John Ray, who said ongoing recoveries of ill-gotten gains do not make up for fraud.

"That things he stole... were successfully recovered through the efforts of a dedicated group" of professionals "does not mean the things were not stolen," Ray said in a letter to the court.

"What it means is that we got some of them back."

L.Rodriguez--TFWP