Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has been found guilty on all seven counts of fraud. After roughly four hours of deliberations, the jury reached the verdict that Bankman-Friend is guilty of the charges, which means he faces a maximum of 115 years in prison.
As reported on by Jacquelyn Melinek of TechCrunch on November 2, 2023, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been found guilty on all seven counts, with six relating to fraud and one relating to money laundering.
Late last year, after the financial troubles and filing for bankruptcy, FTX claimed that Sam Bankman-Fried transferred funds to the Bahamas. Shortly thereafter, Bankman-Fried was arrested and then charged with multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
During the course of the trial, Bankman-Fried was accused of paying a $40 billion bribe to a Chinese official and then went to jail for witness tampering. As MacKenzie Sigalos of CNBC puts it, “The central question for jurors to consider was whether Bankman-Fried acted with criminal intent in taking customer funds from FTX and using that money to pay for real estate, venture investments, corporate sponsorships, political donations and to cover losses at Alameda.”
Melinek notes that during Bankman-Fried’s testimony, the former FTX CEO said he didn’t defraud the customers of the crypto exchange or take their funds but that his trading firm Alameda Research “borrowed” the money.
While he does have a maximum of 115 years in prison, the exact length of time is yet to be decided. Be sure to keep an eye trained on Shacknews as we keep you updated on what’s happening in the crypto world and all things adjacent, like the recent Del Complex floating sovereign nation for AI regulation avoidance.