Key Points
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Thursday of defrauding customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange in one of the biggest financial frauds on record, a verdict that cemented the 31-year-old former billionaire's fall from grace.s)..
The verdict came just shy of one year after FTX filed for bankruptcy in a swift corporate meltdown that shocked financial markets and erased his estimated $26 billion personal fortune..
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 U.S. financial crimes..
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 prioritized 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 U.S. political campaigns in a bid to promote cryptocurrency legislation the defendant viewed as favorable to his business, according to prosecutors..
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