FTX founder’s lawyer asked for 6,5 years in prison in the $8 billion theft case instead of the maximum 110 years

What’s new? The lawyer for the founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried, Marc Mukasey, is pushing for a reduced sentence for stealing $8 billion from customers, arguing that most of the funds will be returned to them. The lawyer told Judge Lewis Kaplan that a jail term of 63 to 78 months would be acceptable for his client. That said, the maximum sentence for the seven counts against the businessman is 110 years. A jury unanimously found him guilty in November.

Material by Reuters

What else is known? During his testimony, Bankman-Fried said he made mistakes in running the exchange but never intended to steal customer funds. He has not pleaded guilty to fraud and is expected to appeal. The lawyer supplemented his appeal to the court with letters of support for the defendant from his parents, Stanford University law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, as well as a psychiatrist and others.

The businessman’s parents also claimed that he was not interested in financial well-being and shortly before the collapse of FTX and his arrest made significant efforts to recover client funds.

However, Bloomberg previously revealed that Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried used their reputations and connections to politicians and venture capitalists to help their son launch and promote FTX. They have not been charged with any crime.

The sentencing of Bankman-Fried himself will be announced on March 28.

It was previously reported that the new FTX managers were unable to find an investor for the relaunch and will now focus on liquidating assets to reimburse customers. FTX has already returned under its control assets for $7 billion and reached agreements with regulators: they will postpone the collection of fines for $9 billion until the company will not pay customers.

By the end of last year, the exchange had accumulated $4,46 billion in cash, and the managers offeredto estimate the amount of customer claims on the rates of cryptocurrencies at the time of bankruptcy. Since then, the rates of most assets have grown two or more times, and in 2023 alone, the total capitalization of the crypto market increased by 108%.