Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto tycoon, has been sentenced to 25 years in a United States federal prison for embezzling $8bn from customers of the now-defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which he established.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan delivered the sentence at a Manhattan court hearing on Thursday after dismissing Bankman-Fried’s assertion that FTX customers did not suffer any financial losses and accusing him of perjury during his trial testimony.
A jury convicted Bankman-Fried, 32, on November 2 of seven fraud and conspiracy charges related to FTX’s 2022 collapse, which prosecutors have described as one of the most significant financial frauds in US history.
“He knew it was wrong,” Kaplan said of Bankman-Fried before imposing the sentence. “He knew it was criminal. He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught. But he is not going to admit a thing, as is his right.”
Bankman-Fried stood with his hands clasped before him as Kaplan read the sentence.
Kaplan stated that the sentence reflects “that there is a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future. And it’s not a trivial risk at all.”
Prior to being sentenced, Bankman-Fried stated: “My useful life is probably over. It’s been over for a while now, from before my arrest.”
Sam Bankman-Fried, centre left, is escorted out of Magistrate Court following a hearing in Nassau, Bahamas, Dec. 19, 2022 [File: Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo]
Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York, stated that Bankman-Fried could have faced up to 110 years in prison for his crimes and that the 25-year sentence was less than the 40-50 years sought by prosecutors.
“Given the scale of this crime, one of the largest frauds in history, the judge took a very strong stance but also showed some flexibility… perhaps based on the arguments made by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers and his family that he had always intended to do good,” she said.
Bankman-Fried had billed…
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