Crypto King has fallen.
After 15 days of deliberations in a New York courtroom, a jury took lower than 5 hours to convict FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The crypto fraudster was discovered responsible of all seven costs in opposition to him, together with two counts of wire fraud, 4 counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one rely of conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
FTX’s multi-billion greenback scheme was one of many largest frauds in American historical past and have become an emblem of greed and lawlessness cryptocurrency business.
“Sam Bankman-Fried dedicated one of many largest monetary frauds in American historical past,” mentioned US Lawyer Damian Williams. “The cryptocurrency business is likely to be new. The gamers, like Sam Bankman-Fried, is likely to be new. However this type of corruption is as previous as time.” pic.twitter.com/E5GonXXqpz
— Final Name (@LastCallCNBC) November 3, 2023
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Shaking within the courtroom
In accordance with CNN, Bankman-Fried bowed his head and was visibly shaking because the jury learn the decision. His dad and mom, longtime Stanford legislation professors, stood behind him, clearly distraught. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, Bankman-Fried turned to them and smiled, prompting his mom to cry.
Outdoors the courthouse, U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams mentioned the decision despatched a transparent message to any “fraudster who thinks they’re untouchable. These individuals ought to assume once more. And if they do not, I promise we’ll have sufficient handcuffs for all of them.”
Williams added that whereas the cryptocurrency business was new, the crime was not. “The gamers, like Sam Bankman-Fried, is likely to be new. However this type of fraud, this type of corruption, is as previous as time,” he mentioned.
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Sentencing scheduled for March
The sentencing is scheduled for March 28. Collectively, the fees carry a most sentence of 110 years.
Protection lawyer Mark Cohen prompt Bankman-Fried would enchantment, saying, “Mr. Bankman Fried maintains his innocence and can proceed to vigorously combat the fees in opposition to him.”