Not long ago, Sam Bankman-Fried – the former crypto billionaire behind the now fallen digital exchange FTX – said he was requesting that as many as ten separate criminal charges he’s facing be thrown out. However, prosecutors describe this motion as “meritless,” and say they’re not only going to pursue all charges, but that it’s likely he’ll face penalties for many of them.
Sam Bankman-Fried Isn’t Getting off that Easily
Right now, among the many criminal accusations Bankman-Fried is facing are fraud, conspiracy, foreign bribery, and making illegal campaign contributions. In court documents, prosecutors explained:
The indictment sufficiently alleges that the defendant and his co-conspirators made false and misleading representations to lenders relating to Alameda’s financial condition. No more specificity is required.
FTX will likely go down as one of the biggest debacles of the digital currency space. The exchange – which first opened its doors for business in 2019 – rose to prominence three years later to become one of the top five digital currency trading platforms in the world. Its founder and chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried was lauded as a genius by many, and his net worth was in the billions towards the end of 2022.
Sadly, this reputation was short-lived as in mid-November, SBF complained of a liquidity crunch on social media. He said he needed fast cash to keep his business in operation, and he eventually turned to his biggest rival Binance about a possible buyout. While things appeared to be moving in that direction for some time, Binance eventually backed away from the deal, claiming the problems FTX was facing were simply too big for it to handle.
From there, the company filed bankruptcy and SBF resigned from his post. Things would have been bad enough if they had stopped there, but the trash meter kept rising. It was later discovered that SBF had utilized customer funds to invest in luxury Bahamian real estate and to pay off loans taken out by his other company Alameda Research. He was eventually arrested and extradited back to the United States. He has entered a not guilty plea and is awaiting trial at his parents’ California home.
Looking for Someone to Blame?
Sam Bankman-Fried has stated that while the risk management employed by the now bankrupt exchange was less than ideal, he continues to insist that he did not steal customer funds. He also says that the prosecutors in the case are simply looking for someone to blame for what happened and they were quick to rush in and tie him to all the issues that arose.
Many legal experts are saying that the chances of him getting any charges tossed are slim to none as there have been too many customers that lost money. His trial is set to begin in early October.
