Sam Bankman-Fried leaves a Manhattan federal court docket in New York City on Jan. 3, 2023.

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Ed Jones/AFP by way of Getty Images

Sam Bankman-Fried leaves a Manhattan federal court docket in New York City on Jan. 3, 2023.

Ed Jones/AFP by way of Getty Images

Sam Bankman-Fried, the previous head of cryptocurrency trade FTX, was discovered responsible of every of the seven felony expenses he was dealing with, marking a spectacular fall from grace for a “math nerd” who was as soon as a shining star in finance.

Bankman-Fried now faces the prospect of spending many years in jail after being convicted on expenses together with securities fraud, wire fraud and cash laundering. The jury deliberated only for a number of hours earlier than reaching its verdict.

Bankman-Fried is more likely to enchantment the choice.

“We respect the jury’s decision. But we are very disappointed with the result. Mr. Bankman Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him,” Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, stated in a press release.

During a trial that lasted greater than 4 weeks, prosecutors sought to show that Bankman-Fried had been a felony mastermind who orchestrated an enormous monetary fraud.

In a courtroom that was often packed, prosecutors detailed how Bankman-Fried and a few of his prime lieutenants secretly funneled billions of {dollars} in buyer belongings from FTX to Alameda Research, a non-public buying and selling agency he additionally managed.

The U.S. authorities stated the previous billionaire handled Alameda like a private piggybank, utilizing FTX buyer cash to purchase luxurious actual property for family and friends, and to make political donations and dangerous investments.

“Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history – a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the King of Crypto – but while the cryptocurrency industry might be new and the players like Sam Bankman-Fried might be new, this kind of corruption is as old as time,” stated Damian Williams, U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of New York, in a press release.

“This case has always been about lying, cheating, and stealing, and we have no patience for it,” he added.

From a penthouse in The Bahamas to jail

The conviction marks a pointy reversal of fortune for a now 31-year previous M.I.T. graduate who simply final yr was residing giant in a $35 million penthouse with a few of his co-workers, as he ran a crypto empire that was estimated to be price tens of billions of {dollars} throughout its heyday.

As FTX grew, Bankman-Fried grew to become a celeb in his personal proper at a time when the recognition of cryptocurrencies surged. There was a wave of investments from beginner merchants and established Wall Street companies alike, and Bankman-Fried capitalized on the craze.

Instantly recognizable by his matted hair and his typical apparel of a T-shirt and shorts, he was feted at conventions, and frolicked with celebrities like former quarterback Tom Brady.

But his companies began to crumble after an article raised considerations in regards to the monetary well being of Alameda. That prompted spooked prospects at FTX to withdraw their funds, in what was successfully a crypto run on the financial institution.

On Nov. 11, FTX and Alameda Research filed for chapter. One month later, Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas.

Bankman-Fried arrives at a Manhattan federal court docket in New York City on March 30, 2023. The former head of FTX was accused of perpetrating one of many largest monetary frauds in historical past.

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Bankman-Fried arrives at a Manhattan federal court docket in New York City on March 30, 2023. The former head of FTX was accused of perpetrating one of many largest monetary frauds in historical past.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Bankman-Fried’s associates turned in opposition to him

Then, one after the other, Bankman-Fried’s former executives began to show in opposition to him, together with Caroline Ellison, who headed Alameda at one level, and was additionally his on-again, off-again girlfriend.

She and different colleagues, together with Gary Wang – who co-founded Alameda Research and FTX with Bankman-Fried — pleaded responsible to separate expenses, and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

Their testimony proved damning in the course of the trial.

They instructed the court docket Bankman-Fried directed them to commit crimes, and their feedback had been particularly compelling as a result of the cooperating witnesses weren’t simply Bankman-Fried’s colleagues, they had been additionally a few of his closest associates.

Wang, for instance, was Bankman-Fried’s good friend at math camp and his roommate at M.I.T.

Bankman-Fried’s Hail Mary

Perhaps essentially the most dramatic second within the trial got here when Bankman-Fried testified in his personal protection — one thing most white-collar felony defendants do not do.

The trial had gone so badly for him that he determined to throw a Hail Mary, hoping it might hold him out of jail.

It was a high-stakes gamble for somebody who has a fame for embracing threat. But it did not work.

Bankman-Fried wilted underneath withering cross-examination from Danielle Sassoon, a formidable prosecutor who clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

She used Bankman-Fried’s personal phrases in opposition to him to nice impact, and he or she had a lot to select from.

For years, Bankman-Fried was the general public face of FTX, eagerly courting reporters, posting Tweets and talking at conferences.

And he continued to hunt the limelight even after he was indicted and positioned underneath home arrest at his dad and mom’ dwelling in Northern California.

Bankman-Fried continued to speak to, and share delicate details about the case with, journalists, leaving Judge Lewis Kaplan so fed up that he revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail and despatched him to jail.

Bankman-Fried’s protection crumbles

Sassoon used Bankman-Fried’s feedback to point out that there was a stark distinction between what Bankman-Fried stated in public, and the way he acted behind the scenes.

For instance, when FTX was teetering on the brink, Bankman-Fried instructed his a whole lot of hundreds of followers on X, previously referred to as Twitter, it was in sound form, at the same time as prosecutors claimed he knew that could not have been farther from the reality.

“FTX is fine,” he tweeted on Nov. 7, simply days earlier than the corporate imploded. “Assets are fine.”

Caroline Ellison, the previous head of Alameda Research, leaves a Manhattan federal court docket in New York City after testifying in the course of the trial of Bankman-Fried on Oct. 10, 2023. Ellison accused Bankman-Fried of directing her to commit crimes.

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Caroline Ellison, the previous head of Alameda Research, leaves a Manhattan federal court docket in New York City after testifying in the course of the trial of Bankman-Fried on Oct. 10, 2023. Ellison accused Bankman-Fried of directing her to commit crimes.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The image painted by the prosecution was at odds with Bankman-Fried’s protection, that he was not a “movie villain,” however a “math nerd” who acquired in over his head.

The protection additionally tried to argue Bankman-Fried was an inexperienced government who was unable to maintain tabs on what was taking place at two multibillion greenback corporations or to correctly supervise executives at FTX and Alameda Research.

In his closing argument, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen stated Bankman-Fried made errors, however argued he at all times acted in good religion and by no means meant to commit any crimes.

“In the real world, people misjudge things,” Cohen stated. “They hesitate. They don’t plan for the unexpected. They make good and bad business decisions, and they make mistakes that later on they wish they could have fixed.”

After a number of hours of deliberation, the jury sided with the prosecution.

That implies that for now, Bankman-Fried stays incarcerated in a federal jail in Brooklyn, dealing with the prospect of spending the remainder of his life in jail.