-
U.S.
prosecutors
urged
a
federal
judge
to
sentence
Sam
Bankman-Fried
to
40-50
years
in
prison
and
$11
billion
in
fines
and
forfeiture. -
The
former
CEO
of
the
FTX
crypto
exchange
was
convicted
on
seven
different
counts
of
fraud
and
conspiracy
in
November.
U.S.
prosecutors
recommended
that
a
federal
judge
sentence
FTX
founder
and
former
CEO
Sam
Bankman-Fried
to
40-50
years
in
prison
for
his
conviction
on
fraud
and
conspiracy
charges
tied
to
the
collapse
of
what
was
once
one
of
the
world’s
largest
crypto
exchanges.
Bankman-Fried
“lied
to
investors,”
shared
fake
documents
and
“pumped
millions
of
dollars
in
illegal
donations
into
our
political
system,”
adding
that
a
sentence
of
40
to
50
years
is
“necessary,”
alongside
a
recommended
penalty
north
of
$11
billion
and
forfeiture,
the
Department
of
Justice’s
Southern
District
of
New
York
office
wrote
in
a
sentencing
memo
filed
Friday.
“Bankman-Fried
is
deserving
of
a
severe
sanction,
proportionate
to
his
role
in
this
historic
fraud,”
the
prosecutors
said.
“The
government
urges
the
court
to
impose
a
sentence
that
underscores
the
remarkably
serious
nature
of
the
harm
to
thousands
of
victims;
prevents
the
defendant
from
ever
again
committing
fraud;
and
sends
a
powerful
signal
to
others
who
might
be
tempted
to
engage
in
financial
misconduct
that
the
consequences
will
be
severe.”
Prosecutors
called
their
request
for
a
$11
billion
judgment
“a
particularly
conservative
sum”
and
noted
that
more
than
a
billion
dollars
had
already
been
seized.
Government
efforts
to
claw
back
some
of
Bankman-Fried’s
money
targeted
the
political
contributions
he
and
other
FTX
executives
made
in
the
U.S.
elections
two
years
ago
–
which
prosecutors
said
they
believed
to
be
“the
largest-ever
campaign
finance
offense.”
The
document
noted
251
candidates
had
so
far
returned
more
than
$3
million.
The
prosecutors
included
a
list
of
sentences
for
defendants
who’d
cost
victims
more
than
$100
million
in
a
Ponzi
scheme
or
other
kinds
of
misappropriation,
leading
off
with
Bernie
Madoff,
who
was
tied
to
$13
billion
in
losses
and
was
given
a
150-year
sentence.
A
proposed
forfeiture
order
details
where
the
funds
would
come
from,
including
deposits
in
U.S.
bank
accounts
that
the
government
has
seized,
funds
in
a
number
of
Binance
and
Binance.US
accounts
and
proceeds
from
the
sale
of
Robinhood
shares.
Bribes
and
other
testimony
A
repeated
theme
throughout
the
memo
is
the
idea
that
Bankman-Fried
knew
he
was
committing
illegal
actions,
but
acted
as
if
he
was
not
bound
by
the
law,
the
DOJ
charged,
walking
through
the
evidence
produced
during
his
trial.
To
support
this,
the
memo
referenced
testimony
and
allegations
made
by
witnesses
at
the
trial,
including
Bankman-Fried’s
former
inner
circle.
He
bribed
foreign
government
officials,
the
filing
said,
referencing
former
Alameda
Research
CEO
Caroline
Ellison’s
testimony,
and
directed
Alameda
to
take
out
a
massive
line
of
credit
on
FTX,
referencing
testimony
from
former
Chief
Technology
Officer
Gary
Wang.
Bankman-Fried
was
convicted
on
seven
different
counts
of
fraud
and
conspiracy
last
November
after
a
month-long
trial
tied
to
the
operation
and
collapse
of
FTX
and
Alameda
Research,
two
companies
he
founded.
He’s
scheduled
to
be
sentenced
on
March
28.
His
defense
team
urged
a
6-year
sentence
in
a
memo
last
month,
which
the
prosecution
called
“woefully
inadequate”
in
Friday’s
filing.
In
Friday’s
memo,
prosecutors
took
aim
at
the
defense
team’s
argument
that
FTX
creditors
are
likely
to
recover
a
majority
of
their
funds,
saying
Bankman-Fried
did
not
assist
with
these
recoveries
and
his
efforts
“in
many
respects
have
been
counterproductive.”
Supporting
documents
Like
the
defense
team,
prosecutors
included
a
number
of
exhibits
to
support
their
argument.
Unlike
the
defense
team,
which
mainly
provided
character
references,
the
DOJ
published
direct
messages
sent
to
Bankman-Fried
by
FTX
customers
and
selected
Google
documents.
One
of
them,
which
appears
to
have
been
written
after
FTX
filed
for
bankruptcy,
includes
a
list
of
options
for
how
Bankman-Fried
could
address
the
bankruptcy
situation.
The
options
ranged
from
blaming
the
attorneys,
appearing
on
former
Fox
News
host
Tucker
Carlson’s
show
and
“coming
out
as
a
Republican”
or
being
interviewed
by
Michael
Lewis
(who
published
a
book
about
him
a
year
later)
to
sharing
a
letter
with
employees
and
tweeting
a
thread
about
his
depression
medication.
Another
document
appears
to
detail
options
for
FTX
before
and
through
its
bankruptcy
process.
Yet
another
document
seems
to
be
more
focused
on
how
he
might
garner
sympathy
and
share
more
information
about
FTX’s
situation.
“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,”
prosecutors
wrote
in
their
sentencing
memo.
Cheyenne
Ligon
contributed
reporting.
UPDATE
(March
15,
2024,
19:05
UTC):
Adds
additional
detail
throughout.
