The founder of cryptocurrency platform FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty by a jury in New York on Thursday of the seven crimes of fraud and money laundering with which he was accused.
The decision of the jury, consisting of twelve members, nine women and three men, came after a five-week trial and attracted attention.
The founder of FTX faces a total of 110 years in prison and his sentence will be pronounced later, reports the agency France-Presse (AFP).
The US federal prosecutor’s office has labeled the 31-year-old suspect as a fraudster who stole money from thousands of victims.
The defendant was a witness during the last three days of hearings and took the opportunity to distance himself from the poor decisions made by FTX and its sister company Alameda Research.
He also tried to point the finger at his former allies, who work with the Public Prosecution Service, repeating that he had no bad intentions but acknowledged that he was not up to the task and that he failed to manage the risks.
Deputy District Attorney Danielle Sassoon subjected Bankman-Fried to rigorous questioning, pointing out contradictions between his private and public statements and eliciting his confession, such as that FTX had extended a large senior line of credit to Alameda, which used customer money to leverage risks “, as he defended in the closing arguments.
Sam Bankman-Fried (known as SBF) was arrested in December 2022 and charged in US courts with seven charges, including fraud and money laundering, for allegedly siphoning millions of dollars from FTX customers for other purposes.
FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms in the world and valued at 30,131 million euros, went bankrupt in November 2022 after many users rushed to withdraw their funds due to reports questioning the company’s solvency.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that Bankman-Fried orchestrated a fraudulent scheme for years to conceal from FTX investors the diversion of client funds to Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried has been accused of siphoning nearly $9 billion from FTX customers for other purposes and faces another similar lawsuit in March accusing him of fraud by the SEC.
The American has pleaded not guilty to all charges in recent months.
In December, two SBF partners, the former executive director of Alameda Research, the firm founded by Bankman-Fried, and FTX’s investment arm, Carolyn Ellison, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, pleaded guilty to charges “related to their roles in the fraud that contributed to the company’s collapse.
Source: DN
