Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of crypto platform FTX, was found guilty in the trial that assessed the charges of fraud and money laundering pending against the 31-year-old entrepreneur.
The sentence to which he will be subject is not yet known, but the combined crimes for which he was convicted amount to a total of 110 years in prison. Five charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years and two others of five years. It is not likely that the court's final decision will reach this number, but a heavy sentence is expected.
Bankman-Fried and his defense continue to say that he is innocent and only knew about the financial hole the company was in a few weeks before it was revealed. He made mistakes, but he did not act in bad faith, the defense and himself claimed during the trial, but the jurors who assessed the case did not value the arguments. It is not yet known whether the businessman intends to appeal, but the lawyer said, after the decision was made known, that his client will continue to try to enforce the version he has defended.
At the courthouse in New York, the entrepreneur had his ex-girlfriend and two other FTX executives testify against him, who took advantage of the agreements proposed by the prosecutor's office to reduce their own sentences and charges.
BUT: Bankrupt FTX gets 500 million to refund customers
Bankman-Fried was arrested last year in FTX bankruptcy aftermath, being precipitated by the public exposure of the company's confusing numbers, which was in the process of being sold to competitor Binance. The platform became the largest crypto exchange and its CEO was a great reference in the sector.
“SAM BANKMAN-FRIED PERPETRATED ONE OF THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL FRAUDS IN AMERICAN HISTORY – A MULTI-MILLION SCHEME DESIGNED TO TURN HIM INTO THE KING OF CRYPTOGRAPHY”, UNDERLINED THE ATTORNEY WHO REPRESENTED THE STATE IN THE PROCESS, DAMIAN WILLIAMS.
In the same communication, released after the jury's decision was known, he stressed that “this case has always been about lying, cheating and stealing, and we have no patience for that”.
SBF was accused of diverting millions of dollars that belonged to investors to capitalize Alameda Research, another company he co-founded, to make investments, political donations or property purchases. When FTX went bankrupt in November last year, Alameda had an accumulated debt to the platform of more than 8 billion dollars. It was precisely the rumors that the company could fail its commitments with FTX one of the factors that precipitated the collapse of the platform, along with the mass flight of investors due to fears of bankruptcy.
However, most of the assets unavailable at the time of FTX's bankruptcy ended up being recovered, allowing investors and creditors to be paid. The outcome did not free SBF from the consequences and accusations, now proven that the complex money circulation scheme was set up with awareness of the risks and legal limits being exceeded.
SBF's sentence will only be known on March 28th of next year.
