SBF Convicted of 7 Fraud Charges, Facing Up to 115 Years in Prison

On the anniversary of the collapse of the FTX exchange, the founder has been found guilty of multiple counts of fraud by a jury. If all charges are upheld, he could face up to 115 years in prison. The final sentencing will be announced on March 28, 2024. Although the defendant has the right to appeal, the situation appears quite unfavorable for him based on the month-long court trial.

After four days of testimony, the twelve jurors began their deliberations on Thursday afternoon, Eastern Time. These jurors come from various age groups and professional backgrounds, and they must reach a unanimous decision on the seven charges to render a verdict. Surprisingly, they reached a unanimous conclusion in less than five hours, finding the defendant guilty on all seven counts of fraud as charged.

The specific charges include wire fraud and conspiracy against FTX customers and Alameda lenders, conspiracy to commit securities fraud against FTX investors, conspiracy to commit commodity fraud against FTX customers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to information from the U.S. Department of Justice, the maximum sentence for each charge ranges from 5 to 20 years.

The prosecution stated that this is "one of the largest financial fraud cases in American history." Given that the defense attorney has repeatedly challenged the judge's rulings before and after the trial, it is expected that the defendants will appeal the verdict.

It is worth noting that the defendant will also face another five criminal charges in March 2024, including deceiving clients in derivative trading, defrauding FTX investors, and three counts of conspiracy. Therefore, the final trial outcome and sentencing will take at least another six months to determine.

During the four-day testimony, the defendant's performance was often astonishing. He repeatedly claimed to "not remember" key details and attempted to shift the blame onto others. This attitude repeatedly angered the presiding judge, who had to remind him several times to answer the questions directly.

The defendant insists that his actions were based on "good intentions" and attributes the collapse of FTX to "communication errors" and "mistakes" rather than intentional fraud. However, his defense seems to have failed to convince the jury. Previously, several of his former business partners had already pleaded guilty and testified against him, which undoubtedly added to the evidence against him.

A well-known venture capital partner who previously led investments in FTX stated on social media that he agrees with the conviction of the defendant and is pleased with the outcome. He believes that this ruling confirms a fact that the public has long been aware of: the defendant misled and deceived many people, including customers, employees, business partners, and investors.

This ruling marks an important progress in the trial of the case. Based on the hearing that lasted for a month, the final sentencing result is likely to not disappoint the public who are paying attention to this case.