Sam Bankman-Fried could be sentenced to up to 115 years in prison if convicted of all charges against him.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday. US federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they had charged Bankman-Fried, the co-founder and former CEO of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with eight counts carrying a combined maximum sentence of 115 years.
FTX rival Binance and other traders began rapidly withdrawing their holdings from the exchange after a bombshell report revealed how closely tied FTX was to Alameda Research, a trading firm set up by Bankman-Fried. After Binance went back on plans to bail FTX out, both FTX and Alameda Research began bankruptcy proceedings and Bankman-Fried stepped down from his position as FTX's CEO on November 11.
New CEO John J. Ray has said that under the previous leadership the company had a "complete failure of corporate controls." Prosecutors including at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have accused Bankman-Fried of misappropriating customer funds, including using them to make political contributions, buy real estate, and repay loans owed by Alameda. They also accused Bankman-Fried of defrauding lenders.
Bankman-Fried has been charged with two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering by US federal prosecutors. Each of these carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Bankman-Fried was also charged with conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the US and commit campaign finance violations, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
"The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge," the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said Tuesday.
CNN reported that even if Bankman-Fried was convicted on all eight charges, he likely wouldn't be sentenced to the maximum term for each charge. It also reported that his sentences may run concurrently, rather than consecutively.
A magistrate judge in the Bahamas denied Bankman-Fried bail during a hearing on Tuesday, saying that he posed a flight risk. The judge remanded him to custody until February.
The SEC also charged Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors, saying on Tuesday that he had orchestrated "a massive, years-long fraud."
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a complaint against Bankman-Fried, FTX, and Alameda Research on Tuesday, charging them with fraud and material misrepresentations related to the sale of digital commodities.
