Following a extremely anticipated sentencing listening to, Sam Bankman-Fried, the previous CEO of FTX, has been handed down a major sentence for stealing billions of {dollars} from clients.
The sentencing, introduced by Decide Lewis Kaplan in a Manhattan Federal court docket, marks a major chapter within the saga surrounding the downfall of the once-prominent cryptocurrency determine.
Bankman-Fried’s sentencing follows a monthlong trial in November, throughout which he was discovered responsible of seven expenses tied to the collapse of FTX and the disappearance of roughly $10 billion in buyer deposits.
Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced
Whereas prosecutors had requested that SBF spend 40 to 50 years in jail, stories acknowledged the protection staff had argued for 5 to 6 years in jail based mostly on the hope that FTX clients would be capable to recoup most, if not all, of the cash they misplaced when the alternate spiraled into chapter 11 in 2022.
Final month, attorneys representing FTX’s chapter property instructed a Delaware choose that they count on to totally repay clients and collectors with authentic claims, though there’s nonetheless a large amount of labor and threat forward in getting all the cash again to purchasers.
Ultimately, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in jail for the fraud and conspiracy scheme that resulted within the chapter of his as soon as distinguished crypto alternate. SBF was additionally fined $11 billion.
Decide Kaplan acknowledged that Bankman-Fried by no means introduced “a phrase of regret for [the] fee of horrible crimes.”
The choice was made by the choose after a two-hour listening to in a Manhattan courtroom the place prosecutors, Bankman-Fried himself, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, a sufferer, and a lawyer who spoke on behalf of different FTX victims made feedback.
“Sam Bankman-Fried’s 25 years jail sentence signifies the top of certainly one of crypto’s worst circumstances of fraud and conspiracy to this point,” John Carter, Crypto Public Relations Government, instructed crypto-news.
“The impression of FTX’s insolvency on the broader ecosystem will without end be remembered because the defining catalyst of the earlier crypto winter. The choice marks the top of an period and can hopefully be a step nearer to broader crypto regulation by significant precedent.”
In a press release, Damian Williams, U.S. Legal professional for the Southern District of New York, stated: “Samuel Bankman-Fried orchestrated one of many largest monetary frauds in historical past, stealing over $8 billion of his clients’ cash.”
“Immediately’s sentence will forestall the defendant from ever once more committing fraud and is a vital message to others who is perhaps tempted to have interaction in monetary crimes that justice shall be swift, and the implications shall be extreme.”
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