FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and trading company Alameda Research, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, CNBC reports.
In November last year, the former billionaire was found guilty on all seven charges. Six of them are related to fraud, and one to money laundering.
The fraudster faced a maximum sentence of about 110 years in prison. However, prosecutors demanded 40 to 50 years in prison for the former banker. His defense, on the other hand, asked for five to six and a half years behind bars.
“There is a risk that this man will be in position to do something very bad in the future,” the judge said before announcing the verdict.
In addition, the former businessman must also pay $11 billion, which the government will be able to use to compensate the victims of the fraud.
Sam Bankman-Fried was accused of stealing billions of dollars of FTX clients’ funds to cover the losses of the hedge fund Alameda Research. However, he claimed that he did not deceive the cryptocurrency exchange’s clients and did not take their funds, and that Alameda “borrowed” money from the exchange.
The former billionaire took advantage of the cryptocurrency boom to amass a fortune estimated at $26 billion. The collapse of FTX in the fall of 2022 after a flurry of customer withdrawals destroyed Sam Bankman-Fried’s fortune and reputation.