Today’s news that FTX co-founder Gary Wang has been sentenced to time served and supervised release for his role in the multi-billion dollar FTX fraud scheme means that only three of the five executives involved will serve any time in prison for their part in the theft.
Wang pleaded guilty to four counts — wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit securities fraud — and was sentenced on Wednesday to time served and three years of supervised release on each.
The longest sentence was reserved for the mastermind of the theft, FTX founder and majority owner of Alameda Research Sam Bankman-Fried. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The second-longest sentence was handed to FTX Digital Markets Chief Executive Ryan Salame, who was sentenced to seven and a half years for his role in using customer funds for influence-purchasing political donations.
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Caroline Ellison, the co-chief executive of Alameda Research and on-again-off-again romantic partner to Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to two years for charges of fraud and conspiracy, receiving substantial leniency thanks to her cooperation with prosecutors and law enforcement.
Wang, along with FTX’s Director of Engineering Nishad Singh, avoided prison time in their sentences, reflecting both their cooperation with the prosecution and their somewhat more peripheral role in the massive fraud.
In total, this inner circle of FTX and Alameda executives have been sentenced to a total of 34.5 years in prison.
Read the full article here
