FTX crypto exchange founder appeals fraud conviction, 25-year prison sentence
Former billionaire crypto trader Sam Bankman-Fried has filed an appeal against his fraud conviction and 25-year jail sentence for stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded in one of the biggest financial frauds in the history of the United States, which impacted victims all over the world, including France.
Lawyers filed the appeal Thursday, two weeks after US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan set the prison term for Bankman-Fried and ordered him to pay $11 billion in forfeiture.
A federal jury in New York found him guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in November 2023.
But Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argue that Kaplan made significant errors that made the trial unfair, and deprived their client of his legal rights.
Bankman-Fried’s downfall came in November 2022, when the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded three years earlier filed for bankruptcy after a run of customer withdrawals, following revelations that billions of dollars had been illegally moved from FTX to Bankman-Fried's personal hedge fund, Alameda Research.
During the trial, Bankman-Fried, testifying in his own defense, acknowledged he made mistakes managing risk, but denied he stole money.
During the sentencing hearing, he expressed regret about the disappearance of the company, which also affected many colleagues.
"It haunts me every day," he said. "I made a series of bad decisions. They weren't selfish decisions. They weren't selfless decisions. They were bad decisions."
(with newswires)
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