Tag • #sam bankman-fried

chevron_right

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

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 23 March - 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.

chevron_right

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

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 21 March - 18:21

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.”

chevron_right

SBF asks for 5-year prison sentence, calls 100-year recommendation “grotesque”

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 28 February - 17:44

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried walking toward a courthouse.

Enlarge / Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrives for a bail hearing at US District Court on August 11, 2023, in New York City. (credit: Getty Images | Michael Santiago )

Convicted FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded for a lenient prison sentence in a court filing yesterday, saying that he isn't motivated by greed and "is already being punished."

Bankman-Fried requested a sentence of 63 to 78 months, or 5.25 to 6.5 years. Because of "Sam's charitable works and demonstrated commitment to others, a sentence that returns Sam promptly to a productive role in society would be sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes of sentencing," the court filing said.

Bankman-Fried's filing also said that he maintains his innocence and intends to appeal his convictions.

Read 19 remaining paragraphs | Comments

chevron_right

US dodges delay of Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing by dropping second trial

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 2 January - 16:58

US dodges delay of Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing by dropping second trial

Enlarge (credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Contributor | AFP )

After FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven charges related to wire fraud and money laundering in 2023, the US recently decided not to proceed with a second trial over additional charges in 2024.

During the second trial, Bankman-Fried could have been convicted on additional charges of conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and substantive securities fraud and commodities fraud.

However, in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, US attorney Damian Williams wrote that the "strong public interest" in a prompt resolution of the FTX scandal outweighed the benefits of holding a second trial—especially since "much of the evidence that would be offered in a second trial was already offered in the first trial."

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

chevron_right

From CZ to SBF, 2023 was the year of the fallen crypto bro

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 22 December - 13:04

From CZ to SBF, 2023 was the year of the fallen crypto bro

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images (Bloomberg/Antonio Masiello))

Looking back, 2023 will likely be remembered as the year of the fallen crypto bro.

While celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Matt Damon last year faced public backlash after shilling for cryptocurrency, this year's top headlines traced the downfalls of two of the most successful and influential crypto bros of all time: FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (often referred to as SBF) and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (commonly known as CZ).

At 28 years old, Bankman-Fried made Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in 2021, but within two short years, his recently updated Forbes profile notes that the man who was once "one of the richest people in crypto" in "a stunning fall from grace" now has a real-time net worth of $0.

Read 24 remaining paragraphs | Comments

chevron_right

‘We will coup whoever we want!’: the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 25 November - 09:00 · 1 minute

Challenging each other to cage fights, building apocalypse bunkers – the behaviour of today’s mega-moguls is becoming increasingly outlandish and imperial

Even their downfalls are spectacular. Like a latter-day Icarus flying too close to the sun, disgraced crypto-god Sam Bankman-Fried crashed and burned this month, recasting Michael Lewis’s exuberant biography of the convicted fraudster – Going Infinite – into the story of a supervillain. Even his potential sentence of up to 115 years in prison seems more suitable for a larger-than-life comic book character – the Joker being carted off to Arkham Asylum – than a nerdy, crooked currency trader.

But that’s the way this generation of tech billionaires rolls. The Elon Musk we meet in Walter Isaacson’s biography posts selfies of himself as Marvel comic character Doctor Strange – the “Sorcerer Supreme” who protects the Earth against magical threats. Musk is so fascinated with figures such as Iron Man that he gave a tour of the SpaceX factory to the actor who plays him, Robert Downey Jr, and the film’s director, Jon Favreau. As if believing he really has acquired these characters’ martial arts prowess, in June Musk challenged fellow übermensch Mark Zuckerberg to “a cage match” after Zuck launched an app to compete with the floundering Twitter. Musk and Zuck exchanged taunts in the style of superheroes or perhaps professional wrestlers. “I’m up for a cage match if he is,” tweeted Musk. “Send Me Location,” responded Zuck from Instagram’s Threads.

chevron_right

Trump and SBF blamed their accountants – but your taxes are your responsibility | Gene Marks

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 12 November - 12:00

We business owners can’t just shrug and say it’s the accountant’s job – it’s our signature on those forms

Every year, millions of individuals and small business owners have their tax returns prepared by outside accountants. It makes sense. Taxes can be complicated so it’s a good idea to have someone who knows this stuff well – a professional – to do your year-end reporting, and do it right.

But let’s say there’s a problem with your tax return. Maybe your tax professional made a mistake. Or was negligent. Or wasn’t up to date on the rules. And let’s say this problem resulted in you owing more money to the IRS. Or even – if serious enough – it results in the IRS taking you to court. Who’s ultimately responsible for this problem? Is it your accountant?

chevron_right

De héros à criminel : l’année d’agonie de Sam Bankman-Fried, l’ancien PDG de FTX

news.movim.eu / Numerama · Friday, 3 November, 2023 - 14:01

L'ancien dirigeant de FTX a été reconnu coupable de fraude et de blanchiment d'argent le 2 novembre 2023. Exactement un an auparavant était publié l'article qui allait mener à la chute de FTX. Retour sur une année mouvementée et pleine de révélations. [Lire la suite]

Abonnez-vous aux newsletters Numerama pour recevoir l’essentiel de l’actualité https://www.numerama.com/newsletter/