Sam Bankman-Fried loses bid to overturn crypto fraud conviction | Latest Tech News
Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday misplaced his bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence over the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he based.
In a unanimous determination, a three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals said prosecutors’ evidence against Bankman-Fried “was, conservatively stated, robust.”
“While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank, spending customer funds on real estate, political contributions, and investments,” Circuit Judge Barrington Parker wrote on behalf of the panel.
Sam Bankman-Fried misplaced his bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence over the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he based. Above, Bnkman-Fried in 2023. Getty Images
Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals didn’t immediately reply to a request for remark.
They might next ask all the lively judges on the 2nd Circuit to hear the case, or ask the US Supreme Court to take up the case.
Bankman-Fried is also in search of a pardon from President Trump, according to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Neither the White House nor the Justice Department immediately responded to requests for remark.
‘Fraud of epic proportions’
Bankman-Fried, who had been one of the cryptocurrency sector’s most influential figures and a multibillionaire before FTX’s spectacular collapse in 2022, was discovered guilty on seven felony prices by a federal jury in Manhattan in 2023.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan US Attorney’s workplace said he stole $8 billion from FTX prospects to plug losses at his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research, in what they termed a “fraud of epic proportions.”
Bankman-Fried in entrance of District Judge Lewis Kaplan in 2023.. His legal professionals might next ask all the lively judges on the 2nd Circuit to hear the case, or ask the US Supreme Court to take up the case. REUTERS
Bankman-Fried had pleaded not guilty to the 2 counts of fraud and 5 counts of conspiracy that he confronted. At his trial, he admitted to making errors operating FTX, but testified that he never stole funds.
In interesting the conviction, Bankman-Fried’s protection legal professionals argued that US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the trial, improperly prevented Bankman-Fried from introducing evidence to back up his perception that FTX had enough funds to cowl buyer withdrawals.
The appeals court disagreed, pointing to legal precedent holding that fraud happens the second a defendant methods somebody into handing over money or property, even if the defendant intends to finally make the sufferer entire.
Lawyers argued the choose improperly prevented Bankman-Fried from introducing evidence to back up his perception that FTX had enough funds to cowl buyer withdrawals. AFP via Getty Images
“FTX customers were defrauded as soon as Bankman-Fried transferred their money to Alameda regardless of how strongly he believed he might later return the money,” Parker wrote.
Bankman-Fried eligible for release in 2044
Before FTX collapsed, Bankman-Fried was a rising star in the rough-and-tumble crypto industry who burnished his repute with lavish philanthropic and political donations.
At his March 2024 sentencing listening to, Kaplan said Bankman-Fried knew his actions have been mistaken but “made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught.”
Three of Bankman-Fried’s former deputies pleaded guilty over their involvement in the case and testified against their onetime boss at his trial.
Bankman-Fried is being held at a low-security federal prison close to Santa Barbara, California.
He is eligible for release in 2044.
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