FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Won’t Face Second Criminal Trial, U.S. Prosecutors Say

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried will not face a second criminal trial, federal prosecutors said Friday in a letter filed in New York federal court.

In the letter, prosecutors suggested a second trial would “delay” a “timely and just resolution of the case.” The government’s lawyers also argued that their original case against Bankman-Fried had already provided ample evidence that the former executive committed a rash of financial crimes during his tenure at FTX, making a second trial largely unnecessary, according to the filing.

“Given that practical reality, and the strong public interest in a prompt resolution of this matter, the Government intends to proceed to sentencing on the counts for which the defendant was convicted at trial,” prosecutors said in the letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over Bankman-Fried’s first criminal trial last fall.

The letter puts an end to speculation that Bankman-Fried could be tried on additional criminal charges. Earlier this year, law enforcement in the Bahamas, where Bankman-Fried’s companies were based, and the U.S. tussled over which country’s prosecutors had the right to try the erstwhile FTX CEO.

In November, a jury found Bankman-Fried guilty of seven counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering, among other charges. His crimes, which came to light in 2022, resulted in the loss of billions of dollars worth of FTX and Alameda Research investors’ funds, deepening a crypto market downturn that had begun earlier that year.

Bankman-Fried will be sentenced in March 2024. He faces a maximum prison sentence of more than 100 years.