A jury has found Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, guilty on all seven criminal fraud counts for his role in the crypto exchange’s downfall.
Those counts include wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders to Alameda Research, conspiracy to commit securities fraud on investors in FTX, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud on customers of FTX, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
He faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28 at 9:30 a.m.
During a month-long trial in a Manhattan federal court, prosecutors claimed Bankman-Fried misled investors and mishandled billions in funds. He was accused of misusing customer funds deposited with FTX to boost his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Nicolas Roos, an assistant U.S. attorney, said Bankman-Fried committed crimes of “epic proportions.” He alleged during closing arguments that Bankman-Fried built his company on a “foundation of lies and false promises.”
Mark Cohen, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried, argued that his client was simply a “math nerd” whose crypto empire grew too fast for him to handle.
Jurors were tasked with deciding whether Bankman-Fried acted with criminal intent in using as much as $10 billion in customer funds from FTX to pay for real estate, venture investments, corporate sponsorships, political donations and to cover losses at Alameda.
Bankman-Fried was a Democrat megadonor, giving nearly $39 million to Democrat-aligned causes during the 2022 election cycle.
Prosecutors said he “misappropriated and embezzled FTX customer deposits, and used billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes, including … to help fund over a hundred million dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to seek to influence cryptocurrency regulation,” according to an August indictment.
Both Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and the former head of Alameda, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, testified against Bankman-Fried during the trial. Ellison and Wang both pleaded guilty in December to multiple charges.
Bankman-Fried, meanwhile, made the risky decision to testify on his own behalf.
He had been in jail since August after the judge revoked his bail over alleged witness tampering. He had previously been released on $250 million bail to home detention at his parents’ Palo Alto, Calif. home. Bankman-Fried’s parents, both of whom are Stanford Law professors, had put up the equity in their home to secure the $250 million personal recognizance bond for their son.
After the verdict was handed down, federal prosecutor Damian Williams told reporters that while the crypto industry is new, “this kind of corruption is as old as time.”