A federal appeals court has rejected Sam Bankman-Fried’s attempt to reverse his conviction on fraud charges and his 25-year prison term related to the downfall of his cryptocurrency platform FTX.
The ruling came Friday from a panel of three judges at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.
“The government’s evidence against him was, conservatively stated, robust,” the judges stated in their 42-page decision.
Legal representatives for Bankman-Fried have not yet provided a response to requests for comment.
Once a prominent figure in the digital currency world and worth billions before FTX’s dramatic failure in 2022, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven felony counts by a Manhattan federal jury in 2023.
Federal prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office alleged he misappropriated $8 billion from FTX clients in what they described as a “fraud of epic proportions.”
Bankman-Fried had entered not guilty pleas to two fraud charges and five conspiracy charges against him. During his trial, he acknowledged errors in managing FTX but denied stealing any money.
His defense team challenged the conviction by claiming U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the case, wrongly blocked Bankman-Fried from presenting evidence supporting his view that FTX possessed sufficient funds to handle customer withdrawals.
Government attorneys argued that trial evidence, including statements from three former associates of Bankman-Fried, clearly demonstrated his culpability.
These former colleagues, who entered guilty pleas and cooperated with authorities, stated under oath that he instructed them to take FTX customer money to cover shortfalls at Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency hedge fund.
During his sentencing in March 2024, Kaplan stated that Bankman-Fried understood his conduct was improper but “made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught.”
Bankman-Fried remains incarcerated at a minimum-security federal facility near Santa Barbara, California. His scheduled release date is 2044.
Before his downfall, Bankman-Fried had emerged as a prominent figure in the volatile cryptocurrency sector and enhanced his public image through substantial charitable and political contributions.
