Sam Bankman-Fried: Disgraced ‘crypto king’ jailed for 25 years after stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers
Disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of stealing billions of dollars from his customers.
He was the chief executive of FTX, which suddenly went bankrupt in November 2022 – leaving millions of users frozen out of their accounts and unable to make withdrawals.
The 32-year-old American could have faced up to 100 years behind bars – but last month, his lawyers argued such a sentence would have been “barbaric” and a five-year term would be more appropriate.
Initial reports said he had been sentenced to 20 years – but this has since been corrected to 25.
Prosecutors had asked the judge to jail Bankman-Fried for 40 to 50 years, arguing the public needed protecting from the fraudster and a harsh punishment would deter other criminals.
“The defendant victimised tens of thousands of people and companies, across several continents, over a period of multiple years,” prosecutors said in a court filing.
“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.”
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Prosecutors also said Bankman-Fried had cost customers, investors and lenders over $10bn (£7.9bn) by misappropriating funds to fuel his quest for influence and dominance in the new industry, and had illegally used money from FTX depositors to cover his expenses, which included purchasing luxury properties in the Caribbean, alleged bribes to Chinese officials and private planes.
At the sentencing hearing in Manhattan, Judge Lewis Kaplan said the businessman lied on the witness stand when he insisted he had no knowledge of customer funds being used this way.
The judge also described Bankman-Fried’s claim that victims will be paid back in full as “misleading and logically flawed”.
“A thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas and successfully bets the stolen money is not entitled to a discount on the sentence by using his Las Vegas winnings to pay back what he stole,” Judge Kaplan warned.
The judge said that the sentence reflected “a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future”.
“And it’s not a trivial risk at all.”
He added that it was “for the purpose of disabling him to the extent that can appropriately be done for a significant period of time”.
Before he was sentenced, Mr Bankman-Fried apologised in a rambling statement.
Sam Bankman-Fried leaving court last July. Pic: Reuters
“A lot of people feel really let down. And they were very let down. And I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about what happened at every stage,” he said.
“My useful life is probably over. It’s been over for a while now, from before my arrest.”
Judge Kaplan said he would advise the Federal Bureau of Prisons to send him to a medium-security prison or less near the San Francisco area because he’s unlikely to be a physical threat to other inmates or prison staff, and his autism and social awkwardness would make him vulnerable to other inmates in a high-security location.
Read more:
The meteoric rise and even sharper fall of Sam Bankman-Fried
Why industry may never recover from downfall of ‘crypto king’
It took just five-and-a-half hours for a jury in New York to convict him of two counts of fraud and five of conspiracy last November.
Three people from Bankman-Fried’s inner circle – including his former girlfriend Caroline Ellison – pleaded guilty to related crimes and testified at his trial.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s colleague and on-off girlfriend Caroline Ellison testified against him. Pic: Reuters
Bankman-Fried’s conviction followed a dramatic fall from grace from his time as chief executive of FTX – the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world at one time – when he was worth billions of dollars on paper.
FTX allowed investors to buy dozens of virtual currencies, from Bitcoin to more obscure ones like Shiba Inu Coin.
Pic: Reuters
Flush with billions of dollars of investors’ cash, Bankman-Fried rode a crest of success that included a Super Bowl advertisement and celebrity endorsements from stars like quarterback Tom Brady, basketball star Stephen Curry and comedian Larry David.
But after the collapse of cryptocurrency prices in 2022, Bankman-Fried tried to plug the holes in the balance sheet of FTX’s hedge fund affiliate, known as Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried’s victims – an estimated 80,000 of whom are based in the UK – remain out of pocket, with some losing their life savings.
Prosecutors described his crimes as one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has learned his lesson from the last time he was in the Oval Office.
When the Ukrainian leader was at the White House in February, he didn’t wear a suit and was berated by Donald Trump and JD Vance over alleged disrespect.
Trump-Zelenskyy latest: NATO-style security guarantees
Zelenskyy’s learned from that moment six months ago and he’s taken on board what other European and world leaders have done with these Oval Office moments – that the best policy is to say as little as possible.
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When Zelenskyy last went to White House
Such was the contrast that the right-wing reporter Brian Glenn, who questioned Zelenskyy over not wearing a suit in February, told the Ukrainian leader: “You look fabulous in that suit.”
The best tactic for dealing with Trump in front of reporters is to not answer the question, don’t rise to the bait.
Get in there and out as soon and as quickly as you can. And this time, that is precisely what Zelenskyy did.
Did Vance learn his lesson too?
The vice president berated Zelenskyy last time but this time, while the US president’s key advisers were there, JD Vance sat quietly to Trump’s side, saying nothing altogether.
It was a marked contrast from six months ago, but some sort of “gulf between the two sides in terms of any peace deal” continues.
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The influence of Melania Trump seems apparent again.
The US first lady sent a letter to Vladimir Putin via Trump at the Alaska summit on Friday, calling for the war to end.
And on Monday, Zelenskyy gave Trump a letter from his own wife for Melania.
When Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies meet Donald Trump in Washington, a huge amount is at stake.
Ukrainian officials are reported to feel betrayed by the US president, who appears to have shifted position to side with Vladimir Putin on a number of key points in the wake of the meeting with him in Alaska.
Trump has undermined the unity of the Western alliance by abandoning their calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s last meeting with Donald Trump at the White House ended in disaster. Pic: AP/ Mystyslav Chernov
He is no longer threatening more severe sanctions, and more worryingly still he seems open to the idea of making the Ukrainians hand over territory the Russians have not yet captured.
He and his real estate lawyer turned rookie negotiator Steve Witkoff seem to believe the conflict can be resolved by an exchange of territory. Putin on the other hand has made it clear he is fighting to extinguish Ukraine as an independent and democratic entity.
Read more:
Putin has ‘agreed NATO-style security guarantee’
How a chaotic 24 hours unfolded
Why is Zelenskyy bringing posse of leaders to talks?
Ukrainians say that for Zelenskyy, handing over land his troops have been fighting to defend since 2014 would be politically suicidal and strategically insane.
Sergeant Andriy Poluhin, from the Ukrainian 24th Brigade, has fought the Russians in Donetsk on and off since 2015 and is currently based in the fiercely embattled town of Chasiv Yar.
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He’s typical of many Ukrainians, appalled at the idea his country would have to hand over land so many of their comrades have died fighting for.
Putin’s claim that he wants to end the war and stop the killing, he says, is self-evidently false.
“It’s a lie, it’s obviously a lie. I think it’s not only my thoughts or Ukrainian ones, but everyone who deals with Russia understands he just lies,” he says.
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Behind the scenes in Alaska with the Sky News team
Many would agree – except the US president himself, who says he believes the Russian leader wants the killing to end.
The challenge for Zelenskyy and his European outriders when they go to the White House is avoiding a repeat of the disastrous Oval Office encounter between him and Trump and his vice president in February.
They need to steer Trump back to their side of the argument without angering the famously thin-skinned president and driving him further towards Moscow.
The unity of the alliance against Putin has never been so threatened.
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