(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A federal jury in Manhattan has found Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of swindling $10 billion from individuals through his crypto exchange and deceiving lenders and investors, bringing an end to the highly publicized trial.
As reported by the New York Post, the controversial tech tycoon was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, stemming from an illicit scheme that involved misappropriating funds from users of the infamous FTX exchange to settle debts owed by Alameda Research. Additionally, Bankman-Fried was found to have used misappropriated funds to pay for extravagant properties.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US Attorney says Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest financial crimes in US history. pic.twitter.com/CLzVhiALUg
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) November 3, 2023
During the verdict announcement, Bankman-Fried, wearing a gray suit and a purple tie, sat with his hands folded in a packed courtroom. Reports suggest he briefly acknowledged his sobbing parents, Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, both professors at Stanford Law School. His mother was seen burying her face in her hands.
The sentencing for Bankman-Fried is set for March 28, 2024, with a potential maximum sentence of 110 years in prison for seven counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
Damian Williams, the district attorney for the Southern District of New York, celebrated the verdict outside the courtroom in Manhattan.
“The crypto industry might be new, the players like Sam Bankman-Fried may be new, but this kind of fraud is as old as time and we have no patience for it,” Williams told reporters.
Bankman-Fried had taken the witness stand in his defense. Nevertheless, federal prosecutors criticized his failure to recall critical pieces of evidence presented. “He thought he could fool reporters, the public, and now you,” stated federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon in a final plea to the jurors. “You know better.”
According to the NY Post, the prosecutor emphasized, “You can’t walk into a jewelry store, steal a diamond necklace and then walk out and say there was no security guard… He knew what he was doing was wrong — that’s why he didn’t hire a risk officer.”
