Judges cite ‘robust’ evidence against Sam Bankman-Fried as his appeal collapses while he waits for Trump pardon

Judges cite ‘robust’ evidence against Sam Bankman-Fried as his appeal collapses while he waits for Trump pardon - Bookmark Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange, saw his bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence rejected on Friday. A three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the lower court's decision, stating that the prosecution's evidence against Bankman-Fried "was, conservatively stated, robust." Circuit Judge Barrington Parker, writing on behalf of the panel, highlighted Bankman-Fried's deceptive practices. "While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank, spending customer funds on real estate, political contributions, and investments," Parker wrote. Bankman-Fried's legal team has not yet commented on the ruling but may pursue further appeals to the full 2nd Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. Separately, Bankman-Fried is seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump, according to records from the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney. Neither the White House nor the Justice Department immediately responded to requests for comment regarding this application. Bankman-Fried, once a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency sector and a multibillionaire, was found guilty on seven felony charges by a federal jury in Manhattan in 2023 following FTX's spectacular collapse in 2022. Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office accused him of stealing $8 billion from FTX customers to cover losses at his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research, labeling it a "fraud of epic proportions." Despite pleading not guilty to the two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy, Bankman-Fried admitted to operational mistakes at FTX during his trial but maintained he never stole funds. His defense lawyers argued on appeal that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the trial, improperly prevented Bankman-Fried from presenting evidence suggesting FTX possessed sufficient funds to cover customer withdrawals. The appeals court dismissed this argument, citing legal precedent defining fraud as occurring the moment a defendant tricks someone into surrendering money or property, regardless of any future intent to compensate the victim. Judge Parker reiterated this point, stating, "FTX customers were defrauded as soon as Bankman-Fried transferred their money to Alameda regardless of how strongly he believed he might later return the money." At his March 2024 sentencing, Judge Kaplan remarked that Bankman-Fried understood his actions were wrong but "made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught." Three of Bankman-Fried's former deputies had previously pleaded guilty and testified against him. From inside New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center, Bankman-Fried has maintained his innocence, telling Fox Business earlier this week, "I didn't steal user funds either." He added, "Customers have been repaid now 170 percent or so on their deposits. It's one of the very few cases where the platform was over-collateralized, where customers were more than made whole. And yet there was, you know, not just a criminal investigation, but a prosecution. And, you know, dozens of years of sentence." He has also engaged in a media tour, including an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, where he criticized courts and crypto regulators and noted his donations to the GOP. Personal notes aired during his trial revealed he considered a plan to "come out as Republican" as FTX faced collapse. However, Donald Trump told The New York Times in January that he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried. Michael Avenatti, a former prisoner who once represented Stormy Daniels, criticized Bankman-Fried's pardon efforts. "Sam and I argued more than once about the same thing: his refusal to accept ANY responsibility for what he did. Not once did he admit he’d done anything wrong — even after I told him repeatedly he could never begin to redeem himself without that acknowledgment," Avenatti wrote on X. "You don’t earn a pardon when you can’t admit, even to yourself, that you did wrong." Despite previously dismissing cryptocurrency as a "scam," Trump has since embraced the industry, which has become a significant donor to his 2024 campaign. Trump and his family have also established "highly lucrative, opaque cryptocurrency ventures" and he has pardoned several individuals involved in crypto-related crimes, including Arthur Hayes, Ross Ulbricht, and Changpeng Zhao. Bankman-Fried is currently held at a low-security federal prison near Santa Barbara, California, and is eligible for release in 2044.