Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried faces eight fees and will face 115 years in jail.
“It’s troublesome to say at this stage what the end result can be, however the stakes are very excessive. However within the Enron case, it obtained a small variety of sentences, “a few years in the past the variety of sentences awarded to prime movers was a lot decrease,” stated Richard Cannon, companion at Stokoe Partnership Solicitors.
As Bernie Madoff, an American investor who defrauded 1000’s of traders out of tens of billions of {dollars} over a 17-year interval, SBF used its credibility to regulate the circulation of cash into FTX’s affairs and Alameda’s analysis. We lined. Madoff’s plans additionally collapsed in the course of the bear market, and he was convicted in 2009 and ordered to pay his $170 billion to the victims, however in accordance with the Madoff Victims Fund, the victims have been paid 13 years later. All he had was $4 billion.
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In Enron’s case, a disgraced vitality firm govt was convicted years after the scandal. One of many firm’s founders, Kenneth Lay, died earlier than he was sentenced to 45 years in jail. In the meantime, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling served 12 of his 24-year jail sentence.
As for SBF, the fees embrace wire fraud in opposition to prospects and lenders, securities fraud, commodity fraud, cash laundering, and conspiracy to defraud america and violate marketing campaign finance legal guidelines.
“Given the unprecedented quantity at problem right here, the SBF is contemplating a excessive guideline vary. [for a sentence]However there are mitigating elements – will he waive extradition, will he cooperate, will he assist discover funds for victims. There’s nonetheless rather a lot to do,” stated Ari Redbord, head of authorized and authorities affairs at TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm.
The extradition course of from the Bahamas to america is the following step on this authorized battle. “The defendant has not waived his proper to problem the extradition and a listening to is scheduled for February. Issues might change, particularly if the defendant stays in custody and needs to proceed with the method. Both SBF waive extradition or he contests the listening to,” commented Redbord.
The previous FTX CEO has reportedly employed former federal prosecutor Mark Cohen as his protection lawyer. He was a part of the protection workforce within the high-profile case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of human trafficking and sentenced to twenty years in jail.