FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and money laundering by a New York jury in a landmark criminal verdict that is likely to condemn the former crypto tycoon to decades in prison and bolster US authorities’ attempts to bring an unruly financial sector to heel.
The decision in the highest-profile cryptocurrency-related trial to date was delivered just after 7:40pm on Thursday evening, following less than five hours of deliberation by the jury’s nine women and three men over seven charges including wire fraud on FTX customers and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was convicted on all counts.
A solemn Bankman-Fried stood motionless and showed little emotion as the verdict was read out in the packed federal courtroom in Manhattan, while his parents Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried embraced each other in the gallery and lowered their heads, despondent.