United States prosecutors want Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange and convicted fraudster, to spend up to 50 years in prison. This development comes as Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is scheduled for later this month after his dramatic fall from grace.
Sam Bankman-Fried Deserves 50 Years In Prison: DOJ
According to a memo filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Southern District of New York on March 15, Sam Bankman-Fried should be locked up for 40-50 years.
The disgraced crypto mogul was found guilty of seven different counts of fraud and conspiracy last November following the implosion of FTX in late 2022. He faces over 100 years behind bars for his crimes.
The prosecutors noted that SBF and associates stole billions of dollars worth of customer money from FTX via the Alameda Research trading firm, FTX’s sister company. The DOJ believes the former crypto exec orchestrated “likely the largest fraud in the last decade”, repeatedly comparing him to Bernie Madoff — the infamous New York financier who ran the biggest known Ponzi scheme in history.
Moreover, Bankman-Fried reportedly “lied to investors”, shared fake documents, and “pumped millions of dollars in illegal donations into our political system.” The former FTX chief understood the law but decided it didn’t apply to him “based on a pernicious megalomania guided by the defendant’s own values and sense of superiority,” prosecutors said in the memorandum.
Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to all charges levied against him. In a memo last month, his legal team urged the court for a maximum sentence of six and a half years.
Nonetheless, prosecutors have also recommended an $11 billion penalty and asset forfeiture for the former FTX boss, on top of the 50-year prison sentence.
“The government urges the court to impose a sentence that underscores the remarkably serious nature of the harm to thousands of victims; prevents the defendant from ever again committing fraud; and sends a powerful signal to others who might be tempted to engage in financial misconduct that the consequences will be severe,” prosecutors said.
In the 116-page court document, the DOJ pointed out how unsympathetic he has been about his fraudulent activities. “Even now Bankman-Fried refuses to admit what he did wrong,” a part of the memo reads.
Another Bankman-Fried Exchange Underway?
Prosecutors also indicated that Bankman-Fried could debut another digital asset exchange, telling the court that he had mulled calling the exchange “Archangel LTD”.
The beleaguered FTX chief considered various ways to salvage his tainted image, such as “focus on the fact that the chapter 11 team has no idea how to run FTX” and is “run by a cartel of lawyers,” “come out as extremely pro-crypto, pro-freedom,” “go on Tucker Carlsen [sic], come out as a Republican,” “have Michael Lewis interview me,” and “radical honesty on Twitter.”
Ultimately, the DOJ concluded that the sheer magnitude of the loss in this case “puts Bankman-Fried in a category of defendants where sentences of forty years or more is appropriate.”
82. That’s how old SBF would be after completing a 50-year prison term.