Ex-crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried convicted of defrauding FTX customers
NEW YORK: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday (Nov 2) of defrauding customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire's fall from grace.A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted him on all seven counts he faced after a monthlong trial in which prosecutors made the case that he stole US$8 billion from the exchange's customers out of sheer greed.
The verdict came just shy of one year after FTX filed for bankruptcy in a swift corporate meltdown that shocked financial markets and erased his estimated US$26 billion personal fortune.The jury reached the verdict after just over four hours of deliberations.
Bankman-Fried stood and clasped his hands together as the verdict was read. Bankman-Fried now faces up to 110 years behind bars.Bankman-Fried, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate whose mother Barbara Fried and father Joseph Bankman are both Stanford University law professors, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy.The conviction represented a victory for the United States Justice Department and Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, who made rooting out corruption in financial markets one of his top priorities.US District Judge Lewis Kaplan set Bankman-Fried's sentencing for Mar 28, 2024.His defence lawyers, who objected to several rulings by Kaplan before and during the trial, are expected to appeal the verdict.After Kaplan left the courtroom, Bankman-Fried spoke with his lawyers at the defence table with his head down.
His father put his arm around his mother as they looked on from the courtroom's front row.As Bankman-Fried was led out of the courtroom by members of the US Marshals service, he turned around, looked at his parents, and nodded.
