SBF's Conviction A 'Warning' To Crypto Fraudsters Who Think 'They're Untouchable': US Attorney

Sam Bankman-Fried's conviction Thursday served as a "warning to every fraudster who thinks they're untouchable," U.S. Attorney Damian William's office said in a statement released shortly after the jury found the crypto mogul guilty of all seven criminal counts against him.

The 31-year-old MIT graduate, who co-founded the crypto derivatives exchange FTX in May 2019, was facing a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.

The son of two legal scholars at Stanford University and a previous crypto billionaire was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers and against Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud against FTX investors, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The controversial crypto mogul's sentencing has been scheduled for March 2024. But, his conviction, just like the collapse of his crypto empire in November 2022, reverberated in the broader cryptocurrency industry and inspired authorities to continue apprehending crooks and fraudsters, who capitalize on the nascent industry and prey on unsuspecting victims.

For Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, Bankman-Fried's conviction proved the latter was wrong. Garland underlined criminals cannot hide their crimes by thinking no one else would be smart enough to understand.

"Sam Bankman-Fried thought that he was above the law. Today's verdict proves he was wrong. This case should send a clear message to anyone who tries to hide their crimes behind a shiny new thing they claim no one else is smart enough to understand: the Justice Department will hold you accountable," the U.S. Attorney General said, before adding, "I am grateful to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI for their outstanding work in bringing Mr. Bankman-Fried to justice."

For Williams, the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York, what Bankman-Fried did was as old as time, involving "lying, cheating, and stealing."

Bankman-Fried's criminal fraud case was considered "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history -- a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the King of Crypto," according to Williams.

The U.S. attorney also highlighted that Bankman-Fried's case was "also a warning to every fraudster who thinks they're untouchable, that their crimes are too complex for us to catch, that they are too powerful to prosecute, or that they are clever enough to talk their way out of it if caught. "