Sam Bankman-Fried’s mea culpa: Read disgraced FTX founder’s statement to court as as he declares ‘my useful life is probably over’ ahead of being sentenced to 25 years
Addressing the court for a final time before being sentenced to 25 years in prison, disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried walked the line between remorse and defiance.
The former tech prodigy spoke for 20 minutes, claiming that the collapse of his crypto trading company “haunts me every day.”
In the lengthy speech, Bankman-Fried paid tribute to his former colleagues at FTX – many of whom testified against him – who “poured themselves into the company for years and then watched me throw away everything they had built.”
He said: ‘A lot of people really feel let down and they were very let down.
‘Sorry about that. I’m sorry for what happened at every stage. Things I should have done, things I shouldn’t have done.’
Bankman-Fried spoke for 20 minutes during his sentencing hearing, claiming that the collapse of his crypto trading business “haunts me every day.” He is pictured in a sketch from a hearing in February
In the wide-ranging speech, Bankman-Fried paid tribute to his former colleagues at FTX, many of whom testified against him. He is depicted in prison
Bankman-Fried apologized to his colleagues and investors who were harmed by the plan. Pictured: Bankman-Fried in February 2023
His parents supported their son throughout the trial and appeared in court for sentencing on Thursday
As he stood to address the court, Bankman-Fried appeared nervous. He wrapped his arms around his body and shifted his weight.
His hair had grown long between the trial and sentencing, but he was clean shaven.
Apparently fearful of the soon-to-be-declared verdict, Bankman-Fried said: ‘My useful life is probably over. It’s been over for a while, since before my arrest.”
He added: “I don’t know if the most important thing here today is my emotional life or my hypothetical future children.”
Bankman-Fried claimed that FTX’s collapse ‘haunts me every day’ and said: ‘I have made a series of bad decisions. They weren’t selfish decisions, they were bad decisions. That culminated in a lot of other factors.”
“It was unbearable to watch,” he said, “customers don’t deserve that pain.”
But he continued to insist that FTX customers could be fully refunded.
“There were enough assets, there are enough assets to fully repay investors,” Bankman-Fried said.
‘There are sufficient resources for that. It’s not because of the rising price of crypto, that certainly hasn’t hurt. There was always enough value in doing that.”
Bankman-Fried further claimed that it was ‘unbearable to see all this happening in slow motion’, referring to the fact that customers were not getting their money back.
“I’ve given everything I have to give for a long time and I would do anything to help, but I can’t really do that from prison,” the fraudster said.
He claimed. “I was the CEO of FTX, I was its leader. That means I was responsible for what happened to it. It doesn’t matter why things go bad if you’re responsible, it’s on you… the collapse is on me.
Judge Lewis Kaplan was quick to bash Bankman-Fried during the hearing, noting that the fraudster committed perjury multiple times during a trial in which he was convicted on all counts by a jury.
Kaplan noted that the Bankman-Fried committed perjury three times during the trial. He also explained how the criminal committed the witness tampering incident that landed him in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (pictured)
The judge quickly rejected the idea that Bankman-Fried deserves a lighter sentence because FTX customers lost nothing in the fraud. Pictured: Bankman-Fried leaving a courthouse in March 2023
‘At the end of the day, I’m not the one who matters most. What matters are the customers, the creditors, the employees, the people who have suffered a lot from this.’
Before the sentencing, Judge Lewis Kaplan was quick to bash Bankman-Fried during the hearing, noting that the fraudster committed perjury multiple times during a trial in which he was convicted on all counts by a jury.
He also called Bankman-Fried a ‘thief’ who ‘has no right’ to a lighter sentence.
His conviction comes months after a Manhattan jury convicted him on all seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.
The month-long trial began in October 2023 and ended days before the anniversary of the FTX collapse in November 2022.
The government alleged that billions in customer money from FTX was funneled into Alameda to repay the massive loans it took out from other crypto lenders.
The trial, with a guilty verdict, capped the fall for FTX and Bankman-Fried himself, who was once seen as the most promising man to bring crypto on an equal footing with traditional finance.