Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen correspondent: 7 martyrs and wounded after an Israeli drone bombed a group of Palestinians while they were preparing a water well at the end of Al-Jalaa Street, north of Gaza.
Al Mayadeen correspondent in Gaza: 122 martyrs as a result of Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip since dawn today.
Senior Palestinian Resistance official to Al Mayadeen: During yesterday's round of negotiations in Doha, "Israel" insisted on releasing captives as part of a transitional phase, while Hamas adhered to comprehensive package
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: A date has been set for the next round of indirect talks with the US, and it will be announced soon
Lebanese Ministry of Health: Two people, including a soldier, were injured in an Israeli airstrike near the town of Beit Yahoun, Bint Jbeil District, in South Lebanon
Araghchi: Iran is committed to diplomacy and expects the lifting of unjust and unilateral sanctions that directly target its people
Araghchi: We want a fair and balanced agreement reached within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty with full respect for Iran's nuclear rights
Araghchi: Iran has always sought to alleviate legitimate international concerns about its nuclear program through transparency
Araghchi: Iran is committed to the principle of not producing or deploying weapons of mass destruction
Araghchi: Iran is committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has never sought to possess nuclear weapons based on its principles

Prosecutors recommend 40-50 years sentence for Bankman-Fried

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 16 Mar 2024 09:46
4 Min Read

The prosecutors on Sam Bankman-Fried's case have set $11 billion in forfeiture to compensate FTX's investors and Alameda's lenders' losses.

  • x
  • FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Federal court, on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in New York.(AP)
    FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Federal court, on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in New York. (AP)

US Prosecutors said on March 15 that Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of stealing $8 billion from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, deserves a 40 to 50 years prison sentence. 

In their sentencing memorandum, the prosecutors wrote, "Even now, Bankman-Fried refuses to admit what he did was wrong."

"His life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people's money," they added. 

The prosecutors have set $11 billion in forfeiture, to compensate for FTX's investors and Alameda's lenders' losses.

A jury found Bankman-Fried guilty in November of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan stated that "thousands of everyday people," including residents of war-torn and unstable countries, had entrusted their funds to FTX.

Bankman-Fried's lawyer Marc Mukasey told US District Judge Lewis Kaplan that a 5-1/4 to 6-1/2 year prison term would be fit, believing that FTX clients would retrieve most of their money and that Bankman-Fried did not intend to steal.

The Spokesperson for Bankman-Fried Mark Botnick stated that Mukasey would file a response next week to the prosecutors' memorandum as Bankman-Fried's sentence is set for March 28 in Manhattan Federal court and he is planning on appealing his sentence and conviction. 

Privilege and superiority 

Related News

Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced for multi-billion FTX fraud today

When sentencing Bankman-Fried, the prosecutors included his privileged life and prestigious education as part of the reason why his sentence should be harsher than usual.

They emphasized that "he knew what society deemed illegal and unethical, but disregarded that based on a pernicious megalomania guided by the defendant's own values and sense of superiority."

Bankman-Fried parents are both Stanford Law School professors. He is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate and worked on Wall Street before going into the world of the values of digital assets such as bitcoin, growing to a net worth Forbes magazine once predicted at $26 billion.

However, his fortune was gone in November 2022, as FTX declared bankruptcy after a surge of customer withdrawals.

Bankman-Fried did that, Biden's cameo appearance

Three of Bankman-Fried's former close associates testified during his trial that he ordered them to loot FTX customer funds to stop losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund, while presenting himself publicly as a responsible leader in the cryptocurrency market.
 
Prosecutors also revealed that Bankman-Fried utilized customer funds to buy luxury real estate in the Bahamas and to give money to US politicians who might back cryptocurrency-friendly regulations.

So far, prosecutors added, 251 US political candidates and committees have given back around $3.3 million in contributions to the government from Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives.

US President Joe Biden's campaign and the Republican National Committee are among those that have handed back funds.

Owning up and handcuffs

Bankman-Fried testified that he was not aware of Alameda's debt to FTX until shortly before both collapsed. 

In a letter to Kaplan, Bankman-Fried's parents pled their son owned up for the mistakes that led to FTX's collapse and tried hard before his arrest to help get back customers' money.

In December 2022, Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas, FTX's base, and extradited to the US.

Since August last year, the former billionaire has been in jail at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center when Kaplan took back his bail upon discovery of his involvement in witness tampering. 

  • FTX cryptocurrency
  • FTX
  • Sam Bankman-Fried
  • Cryptocurrency

Most Read

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

  • Politics
  • 15 May 2025
Two F-35 jets arrive at it's new operational base Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (AP)

F-35 near-misses over Yemen signal new risks for 'Israel': Forbes

  • Politics
  • 14 May 2025
Abu Obaida

Abu Obeida posts shortly after Israeli reports about his assassination

  • Palestine
  • 15 May 2025
Israeli soldiers stand in a group hug mourn another who was killed in a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral service in the Gezer regional council in occupied Palestine, April 27, 2025 (AP)

Al-Quds Brigades intensify operations against Israeli forces in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 11 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
A Microsoft sign and logo are pictured at the company's headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP)
Technology

Microsoft admits supplying AI to 'Israel' amid Gaza carnage

Israeli occupation’s tanks parked in a staging area near the border with Gaza, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP)
Politics

'Israel' launches multi-axis assault in Gaza under 'Gideon’s Chariots'

People stand at the train ticket counter of NJ Transit at Penn Station, amid a strike by New Jersey Transit train engineers, in New York, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP)
Economy

Commuters stranded amid first New Jersey railway strike in 40 years

Trump's tax bill stalls as Republican opposition demands deeper cuts
US & Canada

Trump's tax bill stalls as Republican opposition demands deeper cuts

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS