Bankman-Fried has become one of the most well-known criminals in recent American history. As he awaits punishment, let us pray that God’s will would be done.
From The Epoch Times. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been denied bail after his Dec. 12 arrest in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government.
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In a hearing that lasted more than three hours on Dec. 13, Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt denied Bankman-Fried’s $250,000 bail request, citing a heightened flight risk because of the former billionaire’s access to financial resources.
The judge ordered the 30-year-old to be remanded to Bahamian custody until Feb. 8, 2023. …
“Mr. Bankman-Fried is reviewing the charges with his legal team and considering all of his legal options,” Mark Cohen, legal counsel to Bankman-Fried, stated in an email.
Prosecutors Announce Multiple Charges
Prosecutors and regulators including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have filed charges against Bankman-Fried, including wire fraud, as well as conspiracies to commit wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and fraud against the United States.
He faces up to 115 years behind bars if he’s convicted of all eight charges.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the former FTX boss “built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto” and orchestrated a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX.
The CFTC has charged Bankman-Fried with fraud and material misrepresentations and claimed that his actions prompted the loss of over $8 billion in FTX customer deposits. In a statement, the CFTC accused FTX of commingling customer funds with that of its sister hedge fund, Alameda Research.
According to an indictment (pdf) unsealed on Dec. 13, U.S. prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried engaged in a scheme to defraud FTX’s customers by misappropriating those customers’ deposits and using them to pay the expenses and debts of Alameda Research.
They also accuse him of making “tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions” to both Democratic and Republican candidates and campaign committees that were not under his name, according to Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. …
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(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Getty Images)