Ex-crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried convicted of multibillion dollar FTX fraud
- The jury took just over four hours to find him guilty of all seven counts in one of the biggest financial frauds on record
- Bankman-Fried could face decades in prison when his sentence is determined by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan at a later date
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire’s fall from grace.
A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced after a month-long trial in which prosecutors made the case that he looted US$8 billion from the exchange’s users out of sheer greed.
The verdict came just shy of one year after FTX filed for bankruptcy in a swift corporate meltdown that shocked financial markets and erased his estimated US$26 billion personal fortune.
The jury reached the verdict after just over four hours of deliberations. Bankman-Fried, who had pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy, stood facing the jury with his hands clasped in front of him as the verdict was read.
The conviction was a victory for the US Justice Department and Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, who made rooting out corruption in financial markets one of his top priorities.