Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX Trading Ltd, a cryptocurrency exchange firm, has been found guilty for stealing $8 billion from customers of his now-bankrupt company.
CNN reports that the 31-year-old was convicted on Thursday.
His crime is described as one of the “biggest financial frauds on record.”
A 12-member jury in Manhattan federal court convicted 31-year-old Bankman-Fried was convicted on all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy after a monthlong trial.
The verdict came barely one year after FTX filed for bankruptcy.
Damian Williams, a leading federal prosecutor in Manhattan who spoke with reporters after the verdict, noted that although players like the FTX boss may be new, the kind of fraud he is being convicted for is nothing new in the system.
“The crypto industry might be new, the players like Sam Bankman-Fried may be new, but this kind of fraud is as old as time, and we have no patience for it,” Williams said.
