Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of defrauding FTX customers Business

His defence lawyers, who objected to several rulings by Judge Kaplan before and during the trial, are expected to appeal the verdict.

Once the darling of the crypto world, Bankman-Fried – who was known for his mop of unkempt curly hair and for wearing shorts and t-shirts rather than business attire – instead joins the likes of admitted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, “Wolf of Wall Street” fraudster Jordan Belfort and insider trader Ivan Boesky as notable people convicted of major US financial crimes.

The jury began deliberations on Thursday after hearing the prosecution’s rebuttal to the defence closing arguments delivered a day earlier.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that Bankman-Fried siphoned money from FTX to his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research, despite proclaiming on social media and in television advertisements that the exchange prioritised the safety of customer funds.

Alameda used the money to pay its lenders and to make loans to Bankman-Fried and other executives – who in turn made speculative venture investments and donated upwards of $100 million to US political campaigns in a bid to promote cryptocurrency legislation the defendant viewed as favourable to his business, according to prosecutors.

Bankman-Fried took the calculated risk of testifying in his own defence over three days near the close of trial after three former members of his inner circle testified against him. He faced aggressive cross-examination by the prosecution, often avoiding direct answers to the most probing questions.

He testified that while he made mistakes running FTX, such as not formulating a risk-management team, he did not steal customer funds. He said he thought Alameda’s borrowing from FTX was allowed and did not realise how large its debts had grown until shortly before both companies collapsed.

“We thought that we might be able to build the best product on the market,” Bankman-Fried testified. “It turned out basically the opposite of that.”

Prosecutors had a different view.

“He didn’t bargain for his three loyal deputies taking that stand and telling you the truth: that he was the one with the plan, the motive and the greed to raid FTX customer deposits – billions and billions of dollars – to give himself money, power, influence. He thought the rules did not apply to him. He thought that he could get away with it,” prosecutor Danielle Sassoon told the jury on Thursday.

The jury heard 15 days of testimony. Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, testifying for the prosecution after entering guilty pleas, said he directed them to commit crimes, including helping Alameda loot FTX and lying to lenders and investors about the companies’ finances.

The defence argued the three, who have not yet been sentenced, falsely implicated Bankman-Fried in a bid to win leniency at sentencing. Prosecutors may ask Judge Kaplan to take their cooperation into account in deciding their punishment.

Bankman-Fried has been jailed since August after Judge Kaplan revoked his bail, having concluded he likely tampered with witnesses. 

Judge Kaplan blocked Bankman-Fried from calling several proposed expert witnesses, and ruled he could not testify about the involvement of lawyers in FTX decisions at issue in the trial.