US Prosecutors Make a Controversial Decision on Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried

US prosecutors say they will not file a second case against former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted last month of defrauding his clients.

The decision was met with reaction from the cryptocurrency community, which is awaiting a second lawsuit regarding Sam Bankman-Fried’s donations to politicians in the United States.

In a letter filed Friday night in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors said there was a “strong public interest” in quickly concluding the case against Bankman-Fried. They believe this outweighs the benefits of a second trial.

Given that Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2024, prosecutors’ interest “is particularly weighty here,” they said. This sentence will likely include forfeiture and compensation orders for the victims of Bankman-Fried’s crimes.

On Nov. 2, jurors convicted Bankman-Fried of all seven fraud and conspiracy charges he faced. Prosecutors accused him of greedily stealing $8 billion from FTX customers.

Bankman-Fried also faced six additional charges that were separated from her initial trial. These included campaign finance violations, conspiracy to commit bribery, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business.

Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered, in December 2022 to stand trial on the first seven charges. But the Bahamas has not yet approved a trial on the remaining charges, leaving the timeline uncertain, according to prosecutors.

Bankman-Fried could face decades in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan. Prosecutors noted that most of the evidence that could be presented in a second trial had already been presented in the first trial.

They also noted that a second trial would not affect how much prison time Bankman-Fried would receive under recommended federal guidelines.

*This is not investment advice.