SBF's victims outrage as he's sentenced to 25 years - HALF of what he faced - ... trends now
Victims of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX scam have expressed their outrage and disappointment at his 'lenient' sentence, saying '25 years is a joke.'
People who lost huge sums of money when the cryptocurrency exchange went under in 2022 have flocked to social media forums to share their anger after the disgraced founder was sentenced on Thursday.
Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison - and recommended a medium-security jail - and ordered him to pay $11billion for stealing $8 billion from customers in an elaborate scheme.
One member of an FTX creditors group with the username 'Bruno Dixon' wrote on messaging app Telegram minutes after the sentence was handed down: '25 years is a joke.'
Another member of the same Telegram group, going by Steven, said the sentence was 'laughable for such a serious crime.'
One of the victims Sunil Kavuri testified in court on Thursday ahead of the sentencing on behalf of 200 victims
Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years behind bars and ordered to forfeit $11billion for scamming FTX crypto exchange investors
Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried and labeled him a 'thief' but victims were left unsatisfied
More than 1 million customers face potential losses as a result of FTX's sudden November 2022 collapse. Victims say they are still owed more than $19 billion based on current crypto prices.
Sunil Kavuri, a London-based technology investor at Shomei Group, spoke in court ahead of the sentencing on behalf of 200 victims.
He said: 'I suffered every day. This is a continuous lie that we are all made whole [through bankruptcy payments]'
He added that he had 'money I wanted to spend on a family home taken away.'
Kavuri told the court he knows other victims who are suffering from depression and some have even taken their own lives.
A New York jury last year found Bankman-Fried guilty of stealing from unsuspecting customers to prop up his hedge fund Alameda Research, buy luxury properties and fund political donations.
He was convicted of stealing $8 billion from customers of his international crypto exchange, FTX, and could have been sentenced to up to 110 years for the crimes.
Prosecutors sought a sentence of 40 to 50 years for what they say was one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.
Bankman-Fried's defense has argued that around five years would be appropriate since customers would likely be made whole.
