Mark Kasten, a counsel in Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney’s Blockchain and Crypto Assets practice group, has said that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is unlikely to get a favourable deal from prosecutors while speaking with CoinTelegraph. To get cooperation credit, SBF would have to help in the prosecution of other bad actors but it’s not likely he’ll be able to do that and is therefore unlikely to receive favourable terms.
SBF is currently on bail in the United States where he’s staying with his parents. He’s accused of conspiracy to defraud customers and lenders, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. If he’s convicted, SBF faces up to 115 years in jail.
Since the collapse of FTX, SBF has done some public interviews where he fully admits to the mismanagement of funds that customers entrusted him with but claims that he didn’t intentionally commit fraud. According to Jim Cramer, from CNBC’s Mad Money, SBF’s lawyers probably wanted their defendant to stay quiet and not admit to anything. Now that he’s done these interviews, Cramer, who has a background in law, said the legal system won’t care if SBF is a “nice guy” and could come down hard on him.
Customers with FTX are now waiting for some sort of process to open up where they can apply to receive some of their money back through the bankruptcy process. It’s not clear how much they’ll be able to salvage given the huge mess that SBF has left in his wake. There is apparently several billion dollars worth of customer assets missing.
Source: CoinTelegraph