'25-Year Prison Sentence' Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX Founder Bankman-Fried Appeals

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who was indicted for embezzling billions of dollars of customer funds deposited in the exchange and sentenced to 25 years in prison in the first trial, has filed an appeal.

Bankman-Fried Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

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According to foreign media including Bloomberg on the 11th (local time), Bankman-Fried submitted an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals in Manhattan, New York, on the same day. This comes just two weeks after Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison and ordered the confiscation of assets worth $11.02 billion (approximately 15 trillion won) on the 28th of last month.

Bloomberg reported, "It is unclear on what grounds he intends to appeal," but added, "Bankman-Fried has consistently claimed that he did not intentionally defraud anyone."

Bankman-Fried is accused of embezzling $10 billion in funds from customers and others between 2019 and November 2022 to repay debts of Alameda Research, an FTX affiliate, and to purchase luxury real estate in the Bahamas.

Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where FTX is based, to the United States in December 2022 and was released on bail, but his bail was revoked in August last year, and he has been on trial in custody since then.

Major foreign media outlets have predicted that it may take several months for the Federal Court of Appeals to hear Bankman-Fried's arguments, and that the appeal process could take years before a verdict is reached.

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