FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in November. For his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges tied to the collapse of one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, US prosecutors want FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to serve 40-50 years in prison. They’re also asking for $11 billion in fines and forfeitures along with the long imprisonment time. Its struggling price further underscores FTX’s downfall as a once-powerful crypto exchange.
As of press time, FTX is changing hands at $2.25, plummeting 7.68% over the past day with a 7.55% decrease in its market cap which stands at $741.2 million. Additionally, the trading volume over the last 24 hours has seen a significant 44.73% drop amounting to $45 million.
Long term imprisonment of FTX’s SBF
In a sentencing memo filed Friday, the Department of Justice’s Southern District of New York office wrote, “Bankman-Fried lied to investors,” shared fake documents and “pumped millions into our political system.” A sentence of 40 to 50 years is “necessary,” along with a recommended fine of over $11 billion and forfeiture.
“Bankman-Fried is deserving of a severe sanction, proportionate to his role in this historic fraud,” the prosecutors said. “The government urges the court to impose a sentence that underscores the remarkably serious nature of the harm to thousands of victims; prevents the defendant from ever again committing fraud; and sends a powerful signal to others who might be tempted to engage in financial misconduct that the consequences will be severe.”
A $11 billion judgment was called “a particularly conservative amount” by prosecutors, who noted that more than a billion dollars had already been seized. In an effort to recover some of Bankman-Fried’s money, the government targeted political contributions he and other FTX executives made to the US elections two years ago, which prosecutors said was the biggest campaign finance offense ever. So far, 251 candidates have raised more than $3 million.
The proposed forfeiture order outlines where the funds come from, including deposits in seized US bank accounts, funds in Binance and Binance.US accounts and proceeds from Robinhood shares.
Bribes and more
As the DOJ walked through the evidence presented during Bankman-Fried’s trial, it repeatedly made the point that Bankman-Fried knew he was breaking the law, but did nothing about it ignoring the law.
This was supported by testimony and allegations made by witnesses at the trial, including Bankman-Fried’s former inner circle. As evidenced by former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s testimony, he bribed foreign government officials and had Alameda take out a huge line of credit on FTX, according to the filing.
After a month-long trial involving FTX and Alameda Research, two companies he founded, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy last November. He’s due to be sentenced on March 28. His defense team suggested a 6-year sentence last month, which the prosecution called “woefully inadequate.”
