Ruling In SBF Case Is A Warning To Others, U.S. Attorney Says
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams wrote in an official statement following Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s Thursday morning ruling that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s 25-year prison sentence will send “an important message” to potential fraudsters everywhere.
In addition to a quarter of a century in prison, Kaplan has ordered Bankman-Fried to forfeit over $11 billion.
Bankman-Fried’s sentencing follows his November 2023 trial for his nearly $8 billion digital asset fraud scheme through crypto exchange FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research, with Williams calling the FTX founder’s theft “unprecedented.”
Statement of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on the sentencing of Samuel Bankman-Fried pic.twitter.com/QeSVxFBjol
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) March 28, 2024
“Today’s sentence will prevent the defendant from ever again committing fraud and is an important message to others who might be tempted to engage in financial crimes that justice will be swift, and the consequences will be severe,” Williams said.
Slightly thinner and wearing a beige jumpsuit, Bankman-Fried spoke in court during the ruling, apologizing to colleagues, family, friends, and customers for the crypto exchange’s collapse.
“I know a lot of people feel let down,” Bankman-Fried told the court. “I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about everything that happened at every stage.”
He went on to state that he feels “excruciating guilt” over his role in the crypto exchange’s implosion, claiming the damage it caused “haunts” him every day.
The FTX founder’s new lawyer, Marc Muskasey, likened the fraudster to a “beautiful puzzle” who was “socially awkward.”
“SBF doesn’t make decisions with malice in his heart,” Mukasey said. “He makes decisions with math in his head.”
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