Disgraced crypto investor Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison today by a Manhattan judge for stealing at least $8 billion from clients of his bankrupted FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
After dismissing Bankman-Fried’s defense that his customers did not lose money, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan accused the former media “it boy” of lying and handed his sentence in a New York court hearing Thursday. The Jury found him guilty on November 2nd on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in relation to the collapse of FTX.
Kaplan said the ruling showed “that there is a risk that this man will be in position to do something very bad in the future. And it’s not a trivial risk at all,” adding it is meant to serve “the purpose of disabling him to the extent that can appropriately be done for a significant period of time.”
BREAKING: Fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unraveled with the collapse of FTX. https://t.co/J3NfIx3DN0
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 28, 2024
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At one point the most popular digital currency exchange in the world, FTX fell apart when discoveries of fraudulent practices were made in Fall 2022. Bankman-Friend was indicted in December 2022 and reluctantly descended from his Bahama mansion to face the myriad charges.
Related: Parents of Sam Bankman-Fried Argue He is Too “Awkward” for Prison
FTX, founded by Bankman-Fried in 2019, had become the home of millions of investors with about $1 billion annual revenue by 2021. Its death sentence was delivered when crypto site CoinDesk leaked a balance sheet from Bankman-Fried’s sister hedge fund Alameda Research in November 2022, which triggered a run on FTX’s accounts.
The case was initially put forward by federal prosecutors, who procured 18 witnesses in support of their charges that Bankman-Fried had concocted a scheme to covertly use FTX as an unlimited fund for Alameda.
Related: FTX Sues Sam Bankman-Fried’s Parents for Millions in ‘Misappropriated Funds’
With that money, Bankman-Fried conducted risky investments, bought properties, and bankrolled the campaigns of primarily Democratic politicians as well as nonprofit groups and political action committees (PACs). He was ranked the second biggest donor to the Democrats behind billionaire financier George Soros, spending over $70 million on election campaigns in the 2022 election cycle alone.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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