“From at least in or about 2019, up to and including in or about November 2022, Samuel Bankman-Fried… and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly, did combine, conspire, confederate and agree together and with each other to commit wire fraud,” the US alleged, in an eight-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday.
The indictment served as the basis for Bankman-Fried’s arrest on Monday evening in the Bahamas.
Other charges included conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The indictment was naturally couched in repetitive legalese, and it’d be funny if the situation didn’t involve a massive fraud. Scores of unsuspecting investors and depositors were deprived of their money, while mainstream financial media outlets and venture capital firms were left to wonder what they might’ve done differently to avoid being swept up in a personality cult that ended in figurative and literal tears.
“In furtherance of the conspiracy… Samuel Bankman-Fried and others misappropriated FTX.com customer deposits in order to, among other things, satisfy loan obligations owned by Alameda Research,” the US said, echoing detailed allegations from a civil complaint filed by the SEC on Tuesday.
“On or about September 18, 2022, Samuel Bankman-Fried caused an email to be sent to an FTX investor in New York, New York that contained materially false information about FTX’s financial condition,” the indictment read, in a section accusing Bankman-Fried of securities fraud.
He was also charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States by way of violating campaign finance laws. Bankman-Fried and others made contributions to candidates and joint fundraising committees “in the names of other persons, aggregating to $25,000 and more in a calendar year.” You can’t do that, as it turns out. “No person shall make a contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permit his name to be used to effect such a contribution, and no person shall knowingly accept a contribution made by one person in the name of another person,” reads Title 52, Section 30122.
Bankman-Fried also ran afoul of laws related to political contributions from corporations. “In or about 2022, Samuel Bankman-Fried and one or more other conspirators agreed to and did make corporate contributions to candidates and committees in the Southern District of New York that were reported in the name of another person,” the indictment went on to allege.
In connection with the first four counts (so, the wire fraud), the US is seeking the forfeiture of “any and all property” derived from the allegedly illicit activity, “including but not limited to a sum of money… representing the amount of proceeds traceable to the commission” of the offenses.
Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stipulated that the aforementioned money should be in “United States currency.”
Read the full indictment below
SBFIndictment
I wonder whether he truly thinks he may be able to get away with it (or get a reduced sentence) by making statements like “I messed up, I didn’t know etc”. I highly doubt anyone in the world will accept that at all coming from a (former?) billionaire ceo of one of the until recently largest crypto exchanges in the world. While I am clueless as to how the legal system works, imo it is probably fair that he receives a higher sentence than Theranos’s Holmes.
Holmes defrauded large investors. Bankman-Fried defrauded both large and small investors. That alone is a good reason he should serve many decades.
Some of the large investors may be ponying up some of the money he gave them for various reasons
Pharma Bro has already been released (early) from his original 7 year sentence.
There’s another business hero! I wonder what he will do next.
I wonder how much (in USD’s) he has hidden away that only he can get to…….
Certainly less than he would like, and more than anyone else would like. It sounds like too many shiny Bahamian cays caught his eye… not so hidden away, those assets. Hopefully the sellers didn’t take crypto at the closing.