Judge sentences FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison – IT Pro – News

The founder of crypto company FTX Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The American has been found guilty of fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors initially asked for 40 to 50 years in prison, while Bankman-Fried’s lawyers asked for more than 5 years.

According to Judge Lewis Kaplan, the FTX founder knew he was committing crimes and would have shown little remorse quotes Reuters: “He knew that his actions were criminal. He only regrets the fact that he made an error in judgment about the likelihood of his actions being caught, but does not admit that, which is his right,” said Kaplan. The judge also concluded that the promise that customers and investors would get their money back was ‘misleading, erroneous and speculative’.

During the trial, Bankman-Fried said he did not want to downplay the suffering of customers. He emphatically apologized to former FTX employees. The American continued to insist that it was never his intention to defraud anyone or steal money.

Bankman-Fried was found guilty by an American jury in November 2023 found to have committed billions in fraud with the crypto exchange FTX. He turned out to have transferred eight billion dollars from the platform to his investment fund Alameda Research. When many customers suddenly wanted to withdraw their money from the crypto exchange, FTX found itself lacking liquidity and went bankrupt.