The proclaimed trial of the century that did not get widely broadcasted in the country, US v Sam Bankman-Fried, has now reached its conclusion, and the court found the ex-CEO guilty of all the seven counts filed against him. After the judge and jury's deliberation in the five-week trial, the defendant is now charged with fraud and money laundering, as well as misappropriating customer funds.
Its decision was handed down earlier this Thursday, and it took the jury as much as six hours to reach their verdict which deliberated everything that transpired in the courtroom.
Sam Bankman-Fried is Guilty of All Seven Charges
The US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York has released a statement that claims Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty of all the seven charges filed against him before the trial started.
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. This case has always been about lying, cheating, and stealing, and we have no patience for it.
-Damian Williams, US Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
The decision was revealed last Thursday, centering on the controversial case that misappropriated a massive $8 billion of FTX customer funds.
The Charges Bankman-Fried is Facing Now
Bankman-Fried is guilty of all the seven charges filed against him, and this came after significant deliberation over five weeks, with the prosecution coming in with massive facts and receipts from previous operations and from the ex-CEO himself.
The verdict found him guilty of six counts of fraud, as well as one count related to money laundering.
Sam Bankman-Fried's Controversial Trial
It is almost a year since FTX declared its Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down as the Chairman and CEO of the renowned crypto-exchange company, now leading to his guilty verdict.
Over the course of this controversy, Bankman-Fried has continuously maintained his innocence, denying that he defrauded customers, and claimed to not have pocketed the customer funds.
While other colleagues, FTX officials, and Alameda executives already admitted their guilt with the likes of Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and countless others involved, SBF consistently claimed his innocence. In the hearing where these executives resurfaced to give their statement, they all claimed how Bankman-Fried instructed them to siphon money from FTX customers to Alameda.
The defense fought to prove Bankman-Fried's innocence in the matter, but the prosecution and those who were involved in this entire fiasco, FTX, and Alameda, have brought facts and proof to the court.
Now, the verdict has been handed and there could finally be a conclusion to FTX's demise, with Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of all the charges against him, soon serving time for his crimes.
