Recently sentenced cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried turned to ABC News to advocate for himself in an interview the outlet published on Monday.
A jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy-related charges in November and received a prison sentence of 25 years on Thursday. The freshly sentenced fraudster told ABC in an exclusive interview conducted through email from a jail in Brooklyn that he regrets his actions and wishes he was free so he coulld assist in fixing the harm he caused investors. (RELATED: ‘He Directed Me To Commit These Crimes’: Alleged Fraudster’s Ex Blames Him At Trial)
Sam Bankman-Fried reacts to 25-year prison sentence for financial fraud.
In written responses provided exclusively to @ABC News, Bankman-Fried insists he feels remorse: “I never thought what I was doing was illegal.”
Read more: https://t.co/lAzJKXy0dk pic.twitter.com/DokasUWGhN
— ABC News (@ABC) April 1, 2024
“I’ve heard and seen the despair, frustration and sense of betrayal from thousands of customers; they deserve to be paid in full, at current price,” Bankman-Fried told ABC. “That could and should have happened in November 2022, and it could and should happen today. It’s excruciating to see them waiting, day after day.”
Bankman-Fried co-founded and was CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which collapsed in November 2022 as it encountered allegations of misusing billions in customer funds.
“I’m haunted, every day, by what was lost. I never intended to hurt anyone or take anyone’s money,” Bankman-Fried told ABC. “But I was the CEO of FTX, I was responsible for what happened to the company, and when you’re responsible it doesn’t matter why it goes bad. I’d give anything to be able to help repair even part of the damage. I’m doing what I can from prison, but it’s deeply frustrating not to be able to do more.”
The fraudster’s defense team intends to appeal his sentence, he told ABC.
“SBF may serve as little as 12.5 years, if he gets all of the jailhouse credit available to him,” former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner told CNN Thursday.
Bankman-Fried gave over $37 million overwhelmingly to back Democrat-aligned causes during the 2022 midterm election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. Legacy media outlets and the Department of Justice did not mention that he was a top donor to these causes in their releases on his Thursday sentencing.
ABC News and Bankman-Fried’s attorney did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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