Law enforcement officials in the United States have now taken disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried into custody as of Wednesday, to face numerous charges that stem from the collapse of his company. It’s not looking like a very Merry Christmas for this guy, is it? This is why people who go into finance need to be individuals of high moral character. There are a number of temptations in the industry that can lead a man to surrender up his soul to get rich. However, this kind of success always comes with a price, as Bankman-Fried has learned.
The Daily Wire says that a report from the Wall Street Journal revealed Bankman-Fried was being flown to the state of New York where he will face charges in the DOJ’s Southern District of New York.
“FTX filed for bankruptcy last month after users discovered that the company was intertwined with sister firm Alameda Research; both were controlled by Bankman-Fried and a group of amateur executives working from a luxury penthouse in the Bahamas. The disgraced entrepreneur was arrested this week by authorities in the island nation, where his companies were headquartered, as U.S. securities regulators and federal law enforcement officials accused him of fraud,” the report said.
Attorneys representing Bankman-Fried have attempted to negotiate some kind of bail agreement that would allow the 30-year-old to be released from jail pending a trail, however they have thus far been unsuccessful.
A federal grand jury in Manhattan has charged the former FTX CEO with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations, the Justice Department revealed in a statement.
If he is convicted, Bankman-Fried could potentially be given a total of 115 years in prison on all counts. Yikes.
“Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried misappropriated billions of dollars of customer funds deposited into the cryptocurrency exchange that he founded, FTX, and lied to investors and lenders about the company and about his cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research,” the Daily Wire said.
The report continued, “Bankman-Fried and his co-conspirators were deceiving and conning customers of FTX from the inception of the company, prosecutors said. He allegedly used billions of dollars from customers for his own personal use, to repay loans owed by Alameda Research, and to donate millions of dollars to political campaigns. Bankman-Fried was the Democrats’ second largest donor this last political cycle, donating tens of millions of dollars to Democrat candidates and left-wing groups.”
Bankman-Fried also defrauded those who lent to Alameda Research and equity investors in his own company by burying the misuse of customer deposits, according to prosecutors. He allegedly attempted to conceal the millions of dollars he handed over to politicians by forcing his co-conspirators make their contributions under their own names. These were Democratic politicians of course.
Well, the Good Book says you reap what you sow. And that’s absolutely true. Bankman-Fried is a crook and he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"*" indicates required fields
