Sam Bankman-Fried, the founding father of bankrupt cryptocurrency alternate FTX, arrives at court docket as attorneys push to steer the decide overseeing his fraud case to not jail him forward of trial, at a courthouse in New York, August 11, 2023.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
A lawyer for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday filed a discover of appeal of his federal fraud and conspiracy conviction and his 25-year prison sentence.
Bankman-Fried’s attraction got here two weeks after he was sentenced in U.S. District Courtroom in Manhattan and ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture for the huge fraud on the cryptocurrency alternate FTX and a associated hedge fund, Alameda Analysis. Prosecutors mentioned it was one of many largest monetary frauds in historical past.
The attraction, which was anticipated, shall be heard by a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit U.S. Courtroom of Appeals, which sits in Manhattan.
Felony defendants face very lengthy odds of getting their convictions overturned in federal court docket, successful reversals in fewer than 10% of appeals. If Bankman-Fried loses on the 2nd Circuit, he must petition the U.S. Supreme Courtroom to take his attraction, which is an excellent longer shot.
Alexandra Shapiro, the lawyer who filed Bankman-Fried’s discover of attraction, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Thursday.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted at trial in November of seven fraud and conspiracy counts associated to misappropriating round $10 billion in buyer cash.
The Manhattan U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned Bankman-Fried oversaw a conspiracy that looted buyer funds to make investments and fund political donations to Democrats and Republicans. He additionally used the swindled funds for private bills and to repay loans taken out by Alameda Analysis, prosecutors mentioned.
When he sentenced Bankman-Fried, Choose Lewis Kaplan mentioned, “There is a risk that this man will be in position to do something very bad in the future.”
“And it’s not a trivial risk at all,” added Kaplan, who famous that he has by no means heard “a word of remorse for the commission of terrible crimes” from Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried, who’s the son of Stanford Legislation professors, has recommended that FTX misplaced billions of {dollars} in buyer funds attributable to a “liquidity crisis” or “mismanagement.”
4 different high executives at FTX and Alameda beforehand pleaded responsible.
Considered one of them, Ryan Salame, is because of be sentenced on Could 28 by Kaplan.
Sentencing dates have but to be set for Caroline Ellison, who was CEO of Alameda; FTX know-how chief Gary Wang; and Nishad Singh, who was FTX’s engineering boss.
