• chevron_right

      Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced for multibillion-dollar crypto fraud – live

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 12:10

    Former CEO of now bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange faces more than 100 years in prison if given maximum penalty

    In mid-March, federal prosecutors requested that judge Lewis Kaplan sentence Bankman-Fried to at least four decades in prison. The maximum penalty he could face would amount to more than 100 years.

    “His life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people’s money,” the US attorneys in Manhattan wrote. “And even now Bankman-Fried refuses to admit what he did was wrong.”

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Sam Bankman-Fried will grow old in jail. But don’t forget those who basked in his orbit | Aditya Chakrabortty

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 06:00

    If the high-rollers surrounding the disgraced FTX founder had any qualms about taking his money, they didn’t show it

    Later today, a man who has recently turned 32 will be hauled in front of a Manhattan judge. Already convicted of huge fraud , he knows he’s going to prison. The only question is for how long. If the US government gets its way, he will not emerge before his 80th birthday.

    This is the final disgrace of Sam Bankman-Fried. The judge, politicians and the world’s press will declare him one of the biggest swindlers in American history. They will note how within three years he built a marketplace for digital currencies, or crypto, that was worth around $32bn – and made himself the world’s richest person under 30. Still it wasn’t enough. He spent perhaps $8bn of his customers’ savings on luxury homes, risky investments and whatever else took his fancy.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      ‘Old-fashioned embezzlement’: where did all of FTX’s money go?

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Yesterday - 13:00

    Sam Bankman-Fried oversaw its collapse – now the crypto firm is in bankruptcy proceedings as contentious as his fraud trial

    Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX , presided over a spectacular collapse that cost his customers billions of dollars. He argues in court filings that anyone owed money by FTX “will eventually be paid in full”. The US government says he’s living in a fantasy land.

    Last week, FTX’s caretaker, John Ray III, appointed to oversee the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, reminded the court that Bankman-Fried had masterminded a “colossal fraud”, lived a “life of delusion”, and called Bankman-Fried’s lawyers’ claim that no one had been harmed as “categorically, callously, and demonstrably false”.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced for multibillion-dollar fraud this week

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 3 days ago - 09:00

    Former FTX CEO faces up to 100 years in prison should the judge hand out the harshest penalty

    Sam Bankman-Fried, once the CEO of FTX and a billionaire wunderkind of the cryptocurrency world, will be sentenced to prison time on Thursday in New York City.

    Should the judge in his case impose the harshest penalty allowed, the 32-year-old would face more than 100 years and die an incarcerated man, a possibility his lawyer has called “ grotesque .”

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried: an unrepentant ex-mogul faces down decades in prison

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 5 days ago - 12:00

    The former CEO of FTX, once a king of cryptocurrency, saw a swift reversal of his fortunes starting in November 2022

    In a downtown Manhattan courtroom on the morning of 28 March, tech wunderkind turned fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, unrepentant even after trial and conviction, will finally learn his fate.

    Bankman-Fried , who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX , was found guilty on 2 November 2023 of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      SBF repeatedly lied to get out of “supervillain” prison term, FTX CEO alleges

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · 7 days ago - 18:21

    FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (R) departs Manhattan Federal Court after an arraignment hearing on March 30, 2023, in New York City.

    Enlarge / FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (R) departs Manhattan Federal Court after an arraignment hearing on March 30, 2023, in New York City. (credit: Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images News )

    The CEO of FTX Trading, John Ray, sent a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan Wednesday to correct what he called "callously" and "demonstrably false" claims that disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried made in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence for crimes including defrauding FTX customers .

    In a sentencing memo , Bankman-Fried asked the court to drastically slash his prison sentence from what he considered a "grotesque" 110-year maximum to five to six years. Prosecutors have suggested the sentence should be between 40 and 50 years, but Bankman-Fried claimed such a sentence painted him as a "depraved supervillain," Bloomberg reported .

    The lightest sentence was appropriate, Bankman-Fried claimed, because the "most reasonable estimate of loss" and "harm" to customers, lenders, and investors is "zero."

    Read 34 remaining paragraphs | Comments

    • chevron_right

      Sam Bankman-Fried deserves 40 to 50 years for FTX fraud, prosecutors say

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 15 March - 20:29

    Manhattan prosecutors condemn former FTX chief’s ‘unmatched greed and hubris’ and seek long sentence for $8bn fraud conviction

    Sam Bankman-Fried should spend between 40 and 50 years in prison after being convicted for stealing $8bn from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, prosecutors said on Friday.

    “His life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people’s money,” federal prosecutors in Manhattan wrote. “And even now Bankman-Fried refuses to admit what he did was wrong.”

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Sam Bankman-Fried lawyer argues long prison sentence would be ‘grotesque’

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 28 February - 16:53

    Disgraced cryptocurrency mogul faces 100 years for wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money, a term his lawyer calls ‘barbaric’

    Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said on Tuesday that a suggested 100-year prison sentence for the FTX founder would be “grotesque” and “barbaric” and at most a term of a few years behind bars would be appropriate for crimes that the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul still disputes.

    In pre-sentencing arguments filed just minutes before a late Tuesday deadline in Manhattan federal court, attorney Marc Mukasey said a report by probation officers improperly calculated federal sentencing guidelines to recommend a sentence just 10 years short of the maximum potential 110-year sentence. Bankman-Fried, known for his casual clothing and wild hair, was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money in November.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      FTX scraps plan to revive exchange and will repay billions to customers

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 31 January - 17:31

    Cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried ‘an irresponsible sham created by a convicted felon’, lawyer says

    FTX has abandoned efforts to restart its crypto exchange, instead opting to liquidate all assets and return funds to customers, a company attorney said on Wednesday.

    The exchange, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, has been negotiating for months with potential bidders and investors, but none were willing to put in enough money to rebuild it, FTX attorney Andy Dietderich said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Delaware.

    Continue reading...