The man who once ran one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been found guilty of fraud and money laundering at the end of a month-long trial in New York.
The jury delivered its verdict after less than five hours of deliberations.
It concludes a stunning fall from grace for the 31-year-old former billionaire and one of the most public faces of the crypto industry.
Bankman-Fried who was arrested last year after his firm, FTX, went bankrupt now faces decades in prison while his sentencing has been set for the 28th of March 2023.
The downfall of FTX left many customers unable to recover their funds.
Lawyers working on the bankruptcy case have since said they have recovered the vast majority of the missing money.
“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,” US attorney Damian Williams said in a statement after the verdict.
“This case has always been about lying, cheating and stealing, and we have no patience for it,” he added.
After the verdict, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen said: “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,” he added.
Three of his former close friends and colleagues, including his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him in hopes of reducing their own sentences which will come up at a later date.
Five of the charges Bankman-Fried was found guilty of, carry a maximum prison term of 20 years, with a five-year maximum on the other two charges.
That creates a potential maximum sentence of 110 years, and although it is unlikely the judge will actually impose that, Bankman-Fried is expected to face a sentence lasting decades.
BBC/Maxwell Oyekunle
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