According to a report by TIME, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is now facing an eight-count federal indictment that could result in him being sentenced to as much as 115 years in prison if he is proven guilty and handed the maximum possible punishment.
SBF is accused of conspiracy to conduct commodities and securities fraud, wire fraud on clients and lenders, one offense of money laundering, and one count connected to campaign finance regulations.
According to a federal law, an individual count of wire fraud may result in a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if the defendant is found guilty.
The federal complaint, which was unsealed on Tuesday, included allegations that SBF deceived both clients and investors in order to channel billions of dollars into his other endeavors, such as his trading business, Alameda Research, and that he was largely responsible for the failure of FTX.
Furthermore, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges FTX’s founding father with defrauding investors, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charges him with fraud.
Unless and until SBF is found guilty of the charges, he is presumed innocent. In addition, there are indications that he is already making preparations for an aggressive legal defense. Since the month of November, his parents, who are both law professors at Stanford University, have been staying with him. On Tuesday, in the Bahamas, they were there for his first hearing.
While SBF’s legal team requested that Bahamian court Joyann Ferguson-Pratt release their client on bond with an ankle bracelet, the judge refused their plea and remanded SBF to the Bahamian prison for the next two months.
