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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, should remain in prison for at least 50 years for the role he played in what is “one of the biggest frauds of the last decade”. The prosecutors are asking for between 40 and 50 years in prison for Mr. Ftx in view of Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s decision expected on March 28. The sentence is much heavier than the six and a half years requested by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers.
What Bankman-Fried allegedly carried out was an $8 billion scam against customers of his now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The former billionaire was sentenced in November 2023 for fraud. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said “thousands of ordinary people,” including residents of unstable and war-torn countries, entrusted their nest eggs to FTX.
He does not admit faults
“Even now, Bankman-Fried refuses to admit that what he did was wrong,” prosecutors wrote in a memorandum. «His life in recent years has been characterized by unparalleled greed and arrogance; by ambition and rationalization; and by risk-taking and gambling repeatedly with other people’s money.”
A spokesman for the former billionaire, Mark Botnick, declined to comment. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers instead told District Judge Kaplan that a prison sentence of between 5 years and 3 months and 6 1/2 years would be appropriate, justifying the request on the grounds that FTX’s clients would recover most of the their money and that Bankman-Fried had no intention of stealing.
Bankman-Fried, ahead of his probable sentencing on March 28, has announced that he intends to appeal.