(RepublicanDaily.org) – The edgelord of crypto has finally gotten his comeuppance.
It took a New York jury in Manhattan around four hours to deliberate over the information and data they received over 15 days of testimony to find Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of all seven charges filed against him.
The charges include wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges stem from accusations that Bankman-Fried criminally mismanaged his cryptocurrency exchange FTX, as well as Alameda Research, a trading firm he also owned.
Sentencing is scheduled for March next year, with Bankman-Fried expected to receive a prison sentence that will span decades.
Lawyers for the cryptocurrency “math nerd” said they respect the jury’s decision, but said that they were disappointed. With Bankman-Fried and his lawyers continuing to insist on his innocence, the former darling of the finance world is expected to appeal the decision.
Prosecutors led by Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for New York’s Southern District, accused Bankman-Fried, along with his accomplices in FTX, of covertly and illegally redirecting billions of dollars’ worth of customer assets from the cryptocurrency trading platform to Alameda Research. Furthermore, Bankman-Fried used the funds in Alameda to buy luxury real estate properties for his family and friends, as well as make political contributions and undertake a number of high-risk investments. The MIT graduate was also accused of using an illegal straw-donor scheme to send billions in political donations, as well as bribing Chinese officials.
At its peak, FTX was estimated to have a net worth of roughly $26 billion as it the platform banked on the popularity of bitcoin and other digital assets. But when the news broke that FTX was merging its assets with Alameda, a lot of customers lost confidence and began taking out their money from the platform. FTX declared bankruptcy in late 2022, and Bankman-Fried was indicted shortly after.
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