The founder of the crypto company FTX is soon expected to appear in court as a consequence of the fraud he committed over the span of five years. He faces possible decades in prison.
On Friday, federal prosecutors made a formal request for the New York judge on the case to sentence the founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, to between 40 and 50 years in prison. They have deemed his cryptocurrency crimes of “historic” proportions.
Prosecutors claim he cost customers and investors in FTX and its related companies at least $10 billion from 2017 to 2022.
FTX’s bankruptcy in 2022 left a dark mark on the whole crypto industry, with the sudden collapse of other major industry players vaporizing billions in client wealth.
The request from the prosecutors on the case was made as they submitted their pre-sentence recommendations to the federal judge who will sentence Bankman-Fried, the man who once blew the cryptocurrency world away with his sharp promotional skills, such as his access to celebrities willing to advertise his business.
In the pre-sentence submission, the litigators described Bankman-Fried’s crimes as “one of the largest financial frauds in history, and what is likely the largest fraud in the last decade.”
“The defendant victimized tens of thousands of people and companies across several continents, over a period of multiple years. He stole money from customers who entrusted it to him; he lied to investors; he sent fabricated documents to lenders; he pumped millions of dollars in illegal donations into our political system; and he bribed foreign officials. Each of these crimes is worthy of a lengthy sentence,” they wrote in their pre-sentence suggestions.
Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States from the Bahamas in December 2022 following his company’s collapse that occurred a month earlier. He was originally permitted to remain at home with his parents in Palo Alto, California, but was jailed last year just weeks before his trial, after Judge Lewis A. Kaplan concluded that he had tried to tamper with trial witnesses.
According to prosecutors, his “unlawful political donations to over 300 politicians and political actions groups, amounting to an excess of $100 million, is believed to be the largest-ever campaign finance offense.”
Additionally, they reported that his $150 million in bribes to Chinese government officials was one of the single largest ones made by an individual.
Bankman-Fried is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on March 28.
