Sam Bankman-Fried's Appeal Against Fraud Conviction Fails

The Failed Appeal

Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday lost his bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence over the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded.

Conviction and Charges

Bankman-Fried, who had been one of the cryptocurrency sector’s most influential figures and a multibillionaire before FTX’s spectacular collapse in 2022, was found guilty on seven felony charges by a federal jury in Manhattan in 2023.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan US attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case, said he stole $8bn from FTX customers in what they termed a “fraud of epic proportions”.

The Appeal Process

Bankman-Fried had pleaded not guilty to the two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy that he faced. At his trial, he admitted to making mistakes running FTX, but testified that he never stole funds.

In appealing against the conviction, Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyers argued that US district judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the trial, improperly prevented Bankman-Fried from introducing evidence to back up his belief that FTX had enough funds to cover customer withdrawals.

The Verdict and Sentence

At his March 2024 sentencing hearing, Kaplan said Bankman-Fried knew his actions were wrong but “made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught”.

Bankman-Fried is being held at a low-security federal prison near Santa Barbara, California. He is eligible for release in 2044.