Addressing the court for the last time before being sentenced to 25 years in prison, disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried veered between contrition and defiance.
The former tech prodigy spoke for 20 minutes, stating that the collapse of his cryptocurrency trading company “haunts me every day.”
In the rambling speech, Bankman-Fried paid tribute to her former FTX colleagues (many of whom testified against her) who “dedicated themselves to the company for years and then watched me tear down everything they had built.”
He said: ‘A lot of people feel really let down and they felt very let down.
‘I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry for what happened at every stage. Things I should have done and things I shouldn’t have done.
Bankman-Fried spoke for 20 minutes during his sentencing hearing, stating that the collapse of his cryptocurrency trading company “haunts me every day.” He appears in a sketch from a February hearing.
In the rambling speech, Bankman-Fried paid tribute to her former colleagues at FTX, many of whom testified against her. He is photographed in jail.
Bankman-Fried apologized to colleagues and investors who were harmed by the scheme. In the photo: Bankman-Fried in February 2023
His parents supported their son during the trial and arrived at court for sentencing on Thursday.
As he stood to address the court, Bankman-Fried appeared nervous, wrapping his arms around his body and shifting his weight.
His hair had grown a lot between the trial and the sentencing, but he was clean shaven.
Apparently fearful of the soon-to-be handed down sentence, Bankman-Fried said: “My useful life is probably over.” This has been over for a long time, before my arrest.
He added: “I don’t know if the most important thing here today is my emotional life or my hypothetical future children.”
Bankman-Fried claimed that FTX’s collapse “haunts me every day” and said, “I made a series of bad decisions.” They weren’t selfish decisions, they were bad decisions. “Those culminated with many other factors.”
“It’s been excruciating to watch,” he said, “customers don’t deserve any of that pain.”
But he continued to insist that FTX customers could have their money refunded in full.
“There were enough assets, there are enough assets to return the money to investors in full,” Bankman-Fried said.
‘There are enough assets for that. It’s not because of the rising price of cryptocurrencies, that certainly hasn’t hurt. “There was always enough courage to do that.”
Bankman-Fried went on to state that it was “unbearable to watch all of this unfold in slow motion,” referring to watching customers not get their money back.
“I’ve given everything I have to give for a long time and I would do anything to be out there trying to help, but I really can’t do it from prison,” the scammer said.
He stated. ‘I was the CEO of FTX, I was their leader. That means I was responsible for what happened to him. It doesn’t matter why things go wrong when you are responsible, it’s up to you… the collapse is up to me.
Judge Lewis Kaplan was quick to criticize Bankman-Fried during the hearing, noting that the fraudster committed perjury several times during a trial in which a jury convicted him on all counts.
Kaplan noted that Bankman-Fried committed perjury three times during the trial. He also detailed how the offender committed witness tampering, which landed him in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (pictured).
The judge quickly dismissed the idea that Bankman-Fried deserved a lighter sentence because FTX customers lost nothing in the fraud. In the photo: Bankman-Fried leaves a courthouse in March 2023
‘I’m not the one who matters most at the end of the day. What matters are the customers, the creditors, the employees, the people who have suffered a lot from this.’
Before sentencing, Judge Lewis Kaplan was quick to criticize Bankman-Fried during the hearing, noting that the fraudster committed perjury several times during a trial in which a jury convicted him on all counts.
He also called Bankman-Fried a “thief” who “has no right” to a lighter sentence.
His sentencing comes months after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of all seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.
The month-long test began in October 2023 and ended days before the anniversary of FTX’s collapse in November 2022.
The government claimed that billions of dollars in customer money were funneled from FTX into Alameda to pay off giant loans it had taken out from other cryptocurrency lenders.
The trial, with a guilty verdict, culminated the fall of FTX and of Bankman-Fried himself, who was once considered the most promising man to put cryptocurrencies on equal footing with traditional finance.