On Wednesday, prosecutors and a federal judge sentenced the apologetic FTX co-founder to life in prison, praising Sam Bankman Fried for his cooperation and efforts to recover funds for victims of cryptocurrency fraud.
Gary Wang testified last year for three and a half days at Bankman Freed's trial, testifying for his role as FTX's chief technology officer in a fraud case that Judge Lewis A. Kaplan described as one of the two or three greatest in U.S. history. explained the role.
Mr. Kaplan praised Mr. Wang as the first person he worked with after FTX collapsed in November 2022, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Luce said that prosecutors were investigating Bankman Freed from the Bahamas in December 2022. He shared information that he said allowed him to be extradited quickly.
Banker Man Fried, 32, is serving a 25-year sentence for fraud that misappropriated more than $11 billion in customer, investor, and lender funds.
FTX once promoted itself as a crypto pioneer with celebrity endorsements and Super Bowl ads, but the collapse of the crypto market led to the company being run by Bankman Freed from 2017 to 2022. Years of wrongdoing that doomed the company was exposed.
Mr. Wang, who was given the opportunity to speak, apologized to customers and investors.
“I deeply apologize to all those who were hurt by my actions,” Wang said. “There were many things that could have been done differently,” he said, adding that Wang “chose the despicable path instead of doing the right thing.” Nothing I do can make up for it. ”
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Ruth described Wang's work since the fraud in heroic terms, saying that Wang played a minimal role in the fraud and did not write the complex computer code that enabled it. Nevertheless, Wang said he was “the first FTX collaborator to come in the door.”
“We've cracked almost half of the case for us,” Wang said on his first day meeting with prosecutors, adding that it could have taken the government months or even years to crack the code.
He said Wang continues to work with multiple agencies and entities seeking to recover funds from FTX investors. He said Wang has also developed software that allows prosecutors to spot unrelated financial fraud.
In announcing the verdict, Kaplan said Wang had “limited liability” for his fraudulent conduct.
Source: www.theguardian.com
