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Ahead of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's sentencing this month, U.S. prosecutors told a judge that he should serve time for “masterminding one of the largest financial frauds in history.” Sentenced to up to 50 years in prison.
The government said in a filing on Friday that the 32-year-old was convicted late last year of seven counts of fraud and money laundering in which he stole more than $8 billion from customers and investors, “enfranchising tens of thousands of people.” victimized” before his cryptocurrency exchange collapsed in November 2022.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan rejected claims by Bankman-Fried attorneys that their clients deserved leniency because they were likely to recover their funds through the FTX bankruptcy proceedings. They noted that “the suffocating fear and sense of hopelessness, shame and embarrassment that victims feel when they are unable to withdraw their funds, and the resulting damage to lives and businesses, is irreparable.”
Last month, the former cryptocurrency tycoon's lawyers asked the court for a prison sentence of no more than six and a half years, portraying their client as a “selfless” and “altruistic” young man who “dedicated his life to charity.” .
They called the 100-year sentence recommended by probation officials “grotesque” and “barbaric,” and said that as a person with autism spectrum disorder, Bankman-Fried “is particularly vulnerable in prison.”
But the government said in its filing that the FTX founder “understood the rules but believed they did not apply to him” and engaged in unethical behavior “based on harmful hubris” and a “feeling of superiority.”
Prosecutors said “if the defendant were released back into society at a young enough age, there is a good chance he would have had the opportunity to engage in another fraud.”
“This is not just speculation,” they added. “In the days following FTX’s bankruptcy, and even after the defendant was indicted, he was still considering the launch of ‘Archangel LTD,’ which would be an alternative to FTX’s bankruptcy and result in a relaunch of the exchange.”
Prosecutors also highlighted previous allegations against Bankman-Fried that never made it to trial. These include claims that he bribed Chinese government officials and that he and his companies made “illegal political contributions amounting to more than $100 million to more than 300 politicians and political action groups” in what they called the largest campaign ever Activity Financial Crime.
Bankman-Fried's attorneys have previously vowed to appeal the verdict, but have yet to do so. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28.
Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, three of Bankman-Fried's closest colleagues at FTX, were involved in the trial He pleaded guilty and testified against him and will be sentenced at a later date.
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