From crypto wunderkind to felonIt took jurors just four-and-a-half hours yesterday to reach a verdict in the monthlong fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The result was unanimous: guilty on all counts.
Bankman-Fried has now completed a narrative arc from whiz-kid founder of a crypto empire to fraudster who stole billions in customer funds.
Prosecutors moved to paint the FTX founder — who appeared on magazine covers and hobnobbed with former world leaders — as a scammer who repeatedly lied about his business and profited from illegal use of investor and customer funds.
“This was a fraud that occurred on a massive scale,” Nicolas Roos, a prosecutor, said in closing arguments.
Persons:
Sam Bankman, Fried, fraudster, —, ” Nicolas Roos
Organizations:
Stanford, Prosecutors