Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX Trading Ltd, a cryptocurrency exchange service, has been found guilty of stealing $8 billion from consumers of his now-bankrupt company.
The 31-year-old was convicted on Thursday in what has been termed one of the “biggest financial frauds on record.”
After a month-long trial, a 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy on Thursday.
The verdict came just one year after FTX declared bankruptcy.
Damian Williams, a top federal prosecutor in Manhattan who talked with reporters after the verdict, said that while players like the FTX chief are new, the type of fraud he is being convicted of is not.
“The crypto industry might be new, and the players like Sam Bankman-Fried may be new, but this kind of fraud is as old as time, and we have no patience for it,” Williams said.
