Photos emerged Tuesday evening of Democrat megadonor and disgraced former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in handcuffs, surrounded by highly armed law enforcement officials.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney tried to get the judge to allow his client to post bail by arguing that Bankman-Fried suffered from ADHD and he was on a vegan diet. The judge denied him bail.
Photographs and videos emerged of him being escorted out of the Magistrate Court in handcuffs after being charged with crimes by the U.S. Department of Justice.
BREAKING: #BNNUS Reports
Sam Bankman-Fried (@SBF_FTX) of (@FTX_Official) was seen being escorted out of the Magistrate Court building in handcuffs after being criminally charged by US prosecutors in Nassau, Commonwealth of the Bahamas. pic.twitter.com/toBPDiHTBe
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 13, 2022
Footage of SBF leaving court in handcuffs after being denied bail.
He will likely spend a lot of time behind bars.
— Coinsprout (@coinsprout) December 13, 2022
SBF leaves court in handcuffs (via @Reuters) pic.twitter.com/rDdSmMdA3h
— BecauseBitcoin.com (@BecauseBitcoin) December 13, 2022
Bankman-Fried faces spending the rest of his life behind bars after an eight-count indictment was unsealed Tuesday against him in federal court.
A Manhattan federal grand jury charged Bankman-Fried, 30, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried misappropriated billions of dollars of customer funds deposited into the cryptocurrency exchange that he founded, FTX, and lied to investors and lenders about the company and about his cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried and his co-conspirators were deceiving and conning customers of FTX from the inception of the company, prosecutors said. He allegedly used billions of dollars from customers for his own personal use, to repay loans owed by Alameda Research, and to donate millions of dollars to political campaigns. Bankman-Fried was the Democrats’ second largest donor this last political cycle, donating tens of millions of dollars to Democrat candidates and left-wing groups.
Bankman-Fried also defrauded lenders to Alameda Research and equity investors in FTX by hiding his misuse of customer deposits, prosecutors alleged. Bankman-Fried tried to conceal the millions he gave to politicians by making his co-conspirators make the contributions under their names, say prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried faces up to 115 years in prison if convicted of the following crimes:
- Count One: Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud on Customers; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
- Count Two: Wire Fraud on Customers; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
- Count Three: Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud on Lenders; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
- Count Four: Wire Fraud on Lenders; up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
- Count Five: Conspiracy to Commit Commodities Fraud, up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
- Count Six: Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud, up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
- Count Seven: Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
- Count Eight: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Violate the Campaign Finance Laws; up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
U.S. prosecutors called Bankman-Fried “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”