"Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud at FTX criminal trial"

" \r\n\r\n Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud at FTX criminal trial \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nSam Bankman-Fried was convicted of a massive fraud that led to the collapse of his FTX exchange, following a month-long trial that pitted the testimony of the former crypto king against that of some of his closest friends.\r\n\r\nBankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy after jurors in Manhattan deliberated for less than five hours Thursday. He faces as much as 20 years in prison on each of the most serious charges. Judge Lewis Kaplan set a sentencing date in March.\r\n\r\nThe verdict is a win for Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams in the highest-profile criminal prosecution in the crypto world. It also caps a spectacular fall for Bankman-Fried from early 2022 when FTX was valued at $32 billion and celebrities including Tom Brady, Larry David and Steph Curry were paid to urge people to trade digital currency on the platform.\r\n\r\nBankman-Fried \u201cperpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.\u201d Williams said after the verdict. \u201cA multibillion dollar scheme designed to make him the King of Crypto.\u201d\r\n\r\nProsecutors said Bankman-Fried directed the transfer of FTX customer money into Alameda Research, an affiliated hedge fund, for risky investments, political donations and expensive real estate before both companies collapsed into bankruptcy last year.\r\n\r\nBankman-Fried was standing, holding his hands in front of him and looking at the jury box, as he listened to the verdict. He was led out of the courtroom a few minutes later as his parents watched from the front row of the public gallery.\r\n\r\nHis father, Joseph Bankman, doubled over and put his head down as the guilty verdicts were read out.\r\n\r\nProsecutors characterized him as the mastermind of a massive fraud at Bahamas-based FTX, of creating a \u201cpyramid of deceit\u201d built on lies and false promises. Bankman-Fried\u2019s lawyers positioned him as a hard-working math nerd who tried in good faith to reverse the fast-deteriorating situation in the company last year.\r\n\r\nBankman-Fried\u2019s attorney, Mark Cohen, said he will consider an appeal.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe are very disappointed with the result,\u201d Cohen said in a statement. \u201cMr. Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe trial featured evidence from Bankman-Fried\u2019s former friends and colleagues, including Alameda Chief Executive Officer Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang and engineering chief Nishad Singh. All three members of Bankman-Fried\u2019s inner circle pleaded guilty to felony charges and took the stand to implicate him in hopes of avoiding prison.\r\n\r\nEllison, who had an on-and-off romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried, gave the most emotional testimony of the trial, tearing up as she described the days leading to FTX\u2019s Nov. 11, 2022, bankruptcy filing.\r\n\r\n\u201cThat was overall the worst week of my life,\u201d she told jurors.\r\n\r\nSingh, a close friend of Bankman-Fried\u2019s younger brother, testified that he became suicidal around the same time.\r\n\r\nA few days later, Bankman-Fried took the stand, a risky step in many white-collar cases. He struggled under cross-examination to justify his testimony in comparison to the many interviews he gave after FTX collapsed.\r\n\r\n \u2018Tough Spot\u2019 \r\n\r\n\u201cHe was in a very tough spot,\u201d Robert Frenchman, a white-collar defense attorney with Mukasey Frenchman LLP. \u201cHe was somewhat desperate and the testimony of his former colleagues was pretty devastating so his team felt like he had to do something and it wasn\u2019t enough.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe verdict followed a series of legal setbacks for Bankman-Fried throughout the case, including rulings keeping him locked up before trial and limiting the evidence his team could present.\r\n\r\nBankman-Fried was forced to prepare for trial from a Brooklyn federal jail after the judge revoked his bail in August. Kaplan determined that Bankman-Fried likely committed witness tampering on two occasions, including once when he shared Ellison\u2019s private writings with a reporter.\r\n\r\nKaplan initially permitted Bankman-Fried to remain free on house arrest, in the Palo Alto, California, home of his parents, both Stanford Law School professors.\r\n\r\nThe judge also ruled against Bankman-Fried on several pretrial motions, holding that he couldn\u2019t call seven expert witnesses to testify about the crypto industry, political donations, Alameda\u2019s balance sheets and the use of customer funds.\r\n\r\nThe trial itself featured another setback for Bankman-Fried following an uncommon proceeding. The judge blocked Bankman-Fried\u2019s team from telling jurors about advice he got from lawyers, but not before putting the former CEO on the stand for three hours, outside the presence of the jury, to preview his testimony.\r\n\r\nKaplan had earlier severed five other charges, which were put on hold for a separate, future trial after Bankman-Fried\u2019s lawyers argued they weren\u2019t part of the extradition agreement with the Bahamas that cleared the way for his return to the US.\r\n\r\n "

"Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud at FTX criminal trial"

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