In less than a year of legal proceedings, the appeals court has concluded that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is guilty of all seven charges brought forward by the U.S. government.
These seven charges include:
- Two counts of fraud.
- Two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
- One count of securities fraud.
- One count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud.
- One count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
With these seven charges, SBF could potentially face a prison sentence of up to 115 years.
Before this verdict, key figures at FTX, including former CEO Alameda Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and former FTX Chief Technology Officer Nishad Singh, had already pleaded guilty to various charges and cooperated with authorities to testify against Bankman-Fried.
During the trial, SBF denied all allegations and referred to the downfall of FTX in November 2022 as “some significant mistakes.” However, the jury’s unanimous decision was that SBF is guilty.
The trial judge, Lewis Kaplan, has set the sentencing date for March 28, 2024, while a second trial for SBF has been scheduled for March 15, 2024, to avoid any unforeseen delays.