All posts tagged: FTX

Sam Bankman-Fried Turns on Celebrities Who Promoted FTX to Gullible Fans

Sam Bankman-Fried Turns on Celebrities Who Promoted FTX to Gullible Fans

Published by skeptic

He’s coming for Tom Brady… and others. Turn Tables To save his own hide, disgraced FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to work with prosecutors to name and blame some of the celebrities who shilled his company. As Bloomberg reports, disgruntled investors have agreed to drop their cases against Bankman-Fried in exchange for his cooperation, which will shield him from further civil liability if he follows through. In particular, the group of FTX investors is looking for information about sports stars who shilled the exchange, including Shaquille O’Neal, Stephen Curry, Naomi Osaka, Tom Brady, as well as Brady’s ex-wife [right?], supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Along with those celebrities, the plaintiffs are requiring that Bankman-Fried provide whatever information he can about venture capital firms, lawyers, and accountants that invested in or worked with the crypto exchange. The settlement also requires, as Bloomberg notes, that SBF turn over documents about his investment in the AI firm Anthropic. Circling Back News of this settlement, which was filed Friday in a Florida federal court, comes just weeks after SBF’s 25-year prison …

Sam Bankman-Fried: ‘I never thought what I was doing was illegal’

Sam Bankman-Fried: ‘I never thought what I was doing was illegal’

Published by skeptic

In a recent email interview with ABC News from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder and former CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, expressed remorse for his actions that led to his 25-year prison sentence for fraud last week. During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan remarked that Bankman-Fried had not offered “a word of remorse” for his “terrible crimes.” However, in the interview, Bankman-Fried stated: It’s most of what I think about each day. I never thought that what I was doing was illegal. But I tried to hold myself to a high standard, and I certainly didn’t meet that standard. Bankman-Fried acknowledged the despair, frustration, and sense of betrayal felt by thousands of FTX customers, asserting that they deserve to be paid in full at the current price. He attributed FTX’s insolvency to several “bad decisions” he made in 2022 and noted that customers “could and should” have been paid that year, finding it “excruciating to see them waiting, day after day.” The former FTX CEO expressed …

TechCrunch Minute: Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing marks an end to the FTX saga

TechCrunch Minute: Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing marks an end to the FTX saga

Published by skeptic

After a lengthy trial and conviction, we finally learned how long former crypto baron Sam Bankman-Fried will be behind bars: up to 25 years. It’s a lengthy sentence, but one that given the scale of the crimes he was convicted of, doesn’t come as a shock. For the crypto industry, it’s also the final page […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Source link

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for embezzling customer money

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for embezzling customer money

Published by skeptic

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in Washington D.C. on December 2021. ALEX WONG / AFP Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the cryptocurrency platform FTX, which went bust in the fall of 2022, was sentenced on Thursday, March 28, to 25 years in prison by New York judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who also ordered him to pay $11 billion to the government. Federal prosecutors had requested between 40 and 50 years imprisonment: “He stole money from customers who entrusted it to him, he lied to investors, he sent fabricated documents to lenders, he pumped millions of dollars in illegal donations into our political system and he bribed foreign officials. Each of these crimes is worthy of a lengthy sentence.” Read more Subscribers only FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud Lawyers for the 32-year-old were arguing for a maximum of six and a half years’ imprisonment. “Sam is not the evil genius depicted in the media or the greedy villain described at trial,” said his lawyer, portraying his client as “a first-time, non-violent offender.” Most importantly, according to …

SBF’s prison sentence marks the end of the crypto grift era — so what’s next?

SBF’s prison sentence marks the end of the crypto grift era — so what’s next?

Published by skeptic

On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty on seven charges of wire fraud and money-laundering. The scam he pulled was fairly simple: He and his partners created an exchange, FTX, that took customer deposits to invest in and trade cryptocurrencies. Some of those deposits were secretly funneled to his other company, hedge fund Alameda Research, which he’d originally created to arbitrage differences among crypto prices in various countries. According to the government’s case, which it won, Alameda used that money for various things it shouldn’t have, like investing in other crypto startups, buying some very nice real estate, supporting political campaigns and — most important for purposes of the scam — propping up FTX’s proprietary crypto token, FTT. A few document leaks and some clever work by journalists at Coindesk, combined with a well-timed tweet by Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who ran rival crypto exchange Binance, caused a run on FTX. The scheme unraveled in a matter of days, wiping out billions …

“I’m Sorry” – FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison

“I’m Sorry” – FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison

Published by skeptic

Update (1145ET): And there it is – Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison – more than Elizabeth Holmes, less than Bernie Madoff, same as Bernie Ebbers. Also consider… SBF stole billions of customers money, lied in court, and only got a 25 year sentence. Ross Ulbricht created a website and is still serving 2 life sentences in prison. Injustice at its finest. pic.twitter.com/8t6NHLpJyA — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) March 28, 2024 SBF will also have to forfeit more than $11 billion. Judge Kaplan did not hold back during his sentencing: “When not lying, he was evasive, hair splitting, trying to get the prosecutors to rephrase questions for him. I’ve been doing this job for close for 30 years. I’ve never seen a performance like that.” Update (1105ET): Just before the federal judge was about to sentence Bankman-Fried in his fraud case, the former FTX founder said that he was “sorry.” “I know a lot of people feel really let down,” he said at his sentencing hearing Thursday morning in lower Manhattan. “I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry …

‘He knew it was wrong’: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison over FTX fraud | Sam Bankman-Fried

‘He knew it was wrong’: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison over FTX fraud | Sam Bankman-Fried

Published by skeptic

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul who perpetrated one of the largest financial frauds in history, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11bn in assets. His lawyer reiterated a pledge to appeal the sentence the same day. The judge, Lewis Kaplan, issued the penalty in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday. Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy to launder money late last year. Bankman-Fried appeared in courtroom at around 9.40am, taking his seat in khaki prison garb with his hair grown back out to the messy style he was known for as crypto billionaire. He gave little reaction as Kaplan read out his sentence. During the sentencing, Kaplan described Bankman-Fried as a calculating math genius who sought power and influence while knowingly committing wrongdoing. Although Bankman-Fried apologized for the fall of FTX, saying he “made a series of bad decisions”, Kaplan stated that there was “never a word of remorse” for his crimes. “He knew it was wrong, he …

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for FTX Fraud

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for FTX Fraud

Published by skeptic

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange who was convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, capping an extraordinary saga that upended the crypto industry and became a cautionary tale of greed and hubris. Mr. Bankman-Fried’s sentence was shorter than the 40 to 50 years that federal prosecutors had sought after a jury found him guilty of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering — charges that carried a maximum penalty of 110 years behind bars. But the punishment was far above the six and a half years requested by his defense lawyers. Mr. Bankman-Fried, 32, did not visibly react as the sentence was handed down by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan at the Federal District Court in Manhattan. His parents, the law professors Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, sat two rows from the front, staring at the floor. “He knew it was wrong, he knew it was criminal,” Judge Kaplan said of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s actions. Before the sentence was delivered, Mr. Bankman-Fried, clean shaven and …

King of Crypto SBF jailed for 25 years in New York

King of Crypto SBF jailed for 25 years in New York

Published by skeptic

This morning we reported that disgraced crypto magnate Sam Bankman-Fried was due to be sentenced in New York this morning, with the Prosecution looking for between a 40-50 year term and SBF’s defense team arguing a five-year term would be more acceptable. The judge meanwhile had the ability to lock up Bankman-Fried and effectively throw away the key with a 110-year sentence but has just issued a 25-year sentence for his part in the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Bankman-Fried was found guilty by the jury after just over five hours of deliberation last November. Bankman-Frieds’ FTX had a $10 billion black hole in its accounts after money belonging to customers was used to make risky bets on crypto. A scheme that was to go horribly wrong. FTX was valued at $32bn before it went bankrupt with Sam Bankman-Fried crafting an image that drew in celebrities, politicians, and business titans, according to the BBC. Bankman-Fried’s victims remain out of pocket and while they may get some losses back, it is unlikely everybody will come …

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Published by skeptic

A US federal judge in the Southern District of New York has sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, to 25 years in prison. Last November, at the end of a month-long trial, Bankman-Fried—known colloquially as SBF—was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in connection with the collapse of FTX. The exchange had fallen to pieces in November 2022 after running dry of funds with which to process customer withdrawals. The money was missing, the jury concluded, because Bankman-Fried had conducted an elaborate fraud whereby billions of dollars’ worth of user funds was swept into a sibling company and used to bankroll high-risk trading, venture bets, debt repayments, personal loans, political donations, and a lavish life in the Bahamas. In a court filing, the US government described the affair as “one of the largest financial frauds in history.” Bankman-Fried had demonstrated “unmatched greed and hubris” and a “brazen disrespect for the rule of law,” it said. The sentencing completes a remarkable fall from grace. Between 2019 and 2022, Bankman-Fried steered …