When will Sam Bankman-Fried go to jail?

[serjent05]

Is there any proof that he is reason why people lost their money? I am not very sure.

One proof ... He is the CEO of FTX Exchange[1].  In case you are not aware of the job of a CEO:

CEO or Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the successes and shortcomings of the business[2]
CEO Main Role:
Making decisions and being responsible for those decisions.

This is arguably the most important aspect of their job. They are the ones that are ultimately held responsible for the outcomes. Their responsibility also falls into creating both a vision and a destiny for their corporation. Vision is the direction in which the company is headed. Strategy is the process that the business will undertake to achieve the vision. One aspect of the business that the CEO must not undertake is micro-management. Once they stop focusing on vision and strategy to manage specific details, they are no longer performing the duties of a CEO.

A CEO leads his company.

He or she is the one that guides the business towards the vision. In addition, to guiding the business, the responsibility of setting the culture of the company rests as well in the hands of the CEO. 

CEOs are responsible for maintaining capital for their business.

They need to ensure that their company has enough money to be successful and be able to meet its obligations. There are several different avenues from which this revenue may arrive. It may come from earnings, equity, or debt.

CEOs manage risk

Every corporation faces uncertainty about their future. A CEO’s responsibility is to manage that risk so that the company does not appear to be too volatile to invest in. By doing so, not only will the company maintain a more consistent revenue stream, but they will be attractive to current and potential clients.

CEOs have an ethical and a legal accountability to the owners and shareholders.

They are also responsible and accountable to the board of directors and must keep them updated as to the state of the business.

CEOs report to the board of directors

EOs do not have free reign to do whatever they would like without consequence. The board of directors has a duty to make sure that the CEO is performing in a manner which is best for the corporation. They must also replace the CEO if he or she is not doing as well as they need to be.

That covers the scope of being a CEO, now, the fund of FTX gone missing and it is stated that it is the responsibility of the CEO to maintain the capital of the company, and he approves all the transactions of the company.  So if not SBF, who would have mismanage the fund of FTX?




[1] Sam Bankman-Fried
[2] Role of the Chief Executive Officer

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[franky1]

when a business has done something criminal. CEO dont always go to jail

did HSBC ceo go to jail for money laundering
did JPMorgan ceo go to jail for money laundering

it could be a buffet/enron thing.. = criminal charges against CEO
it could be a HSBC/JPM thing..= business fine at probably an amount equal to X days business profit

[S A KHAIR]

when a business has done something criminal. CEO dont always go to jail

did HSBC ceo go to jail for money laundering
did JPMorgan ceo go to jail for money laundering

it could be a buffet/enron thing.. = criminal charges against CEO
it could be a HSBC/JPM thing..= business fine at probably an amount equal to X days business profit

I'm sure he will never go to jail no matter how many people want or sue. FTX just filed for bankruptcy meaning they are not officially bankrupt and they are still operating but he resigned last week. He no longer has a relationship with FTX. Not only will he not have to go to jail, but he could join or open another company in the future if he resigns early.

[FatManTerra]

Imagine you are a prosecutor in SDNY looking into FTX, and SBF is just running his mouth confessing on Twitter and in media interviews. Let's ignore extradition, jurisdiction, everything. Are you in a rush to lock him up so his lawyer finally convinces him that the Fifth Amendment is important or do you enjoy Thanksgiving?

[serjent05]

when a business has done something criminal. CEO dont always go to jail

did HSBC ceo go to jail for money laundering
did JPMorgan ceo go to jail for money laundering

it could be a buffet/enron thing.. = criminal charges against CEO
it could be a HSBC/JPM thing..= business fine at probably an amount equal to X days business profit

I agree and it is possible that they are still free because they have powerful connections that can maim justice.  But those who don't amass enough powerful backers, end up in jail.  And probably Sam Bankman-Fried will never go to jail because people around him is possibly powerful enough to blindfold the blindfolded justice system.



Anyway, those who are interested to know some CEO who got jailed due to their fraud and mismanagement can refer to this article[1][2][3]


[1] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/who-is-elizabeth-holmes-disgraced-ceo-who-was-sentenced-to-more-than-11-years-in-prison-for-theranos-fraud/articleshow/95615174.cms
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60001147
[3] https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/10-ceos-who-went-boardroom-cell-block-flna783944

[teosanru]

Honestly I really don't think this is going to happen. These billionaires have a lot of money to feed the governments and stop going to jail, they even have inteligent attorneys who guide them clearly as to which country to stay in order to be safe from the government itself. Even if they are caught they have plenty of excuses and scapegoats to get free from the system. So, I don think you will be able to enjoy this sight.

[franky1]

here is the thing

cases where a CEO has gone to jail take a long time to prove, especially when they may still be trying to to work out what is happening

even in the theranos case where on first day of investigating anyone could simply walk into the building and say ok test my blood for 50 diseases
boom one day see the claims of a working device are a lie
however it took years to actually put her in jail


in finance its not just trying to shuffles the account numbers into something readable to then see what exists on paper and then find the real assets listed
its then to see where the missing assets went and why.
and if those movements are business property moves or personal actions directed personally by a CEO who done it in a manner that without any doubt was to abuse customers and criminally steal.

in short it will take a long time to get any real answers, and if there is a "reasonable doubt" where by it could be considered that there was a hack, be sure SBF's lawyers will maximise that "hackers" involvement as much as they can to shift the blame. or find an insider employee to blame. or something

[Sarah Azhari]

There's only one solution to restore people's confidence. Put the bad guy in jail for a long, long time.

I don't know where his country is from. If SBF lives in USA, the police especially FBI must investigate him and catch him in jail right now. Or maybe can't be enough proof to throw him?. Not only him, a lot of unbitcoin crime like Craig Steven Wright must be jail also to make the bitcoin ecosystem to be green zone. Both will make bitcoin will be done every time, if the police can't act those criminals, they will make happen again in between 4 year.

[bbc.reporter]

when a business has done something criminal. CEO dont always go to jail

did HSBC ceo go to jail for money laundering
did JPMorgan ceo go to jail for money laundering

it could be a buffet/enron thing.. = criminal charges against CEO
it could be a HSBC/JPM thing..= business fine at probably an amount equal to X days business profit

I agree and it is possible that they are still free because they have powerful connections that can maim justice.  But those who don't amass enough powerful backers, end up in jail.  And probably Sam Bankman-Fried will never go to jail because people around him is possibly powerful enough to blindfold the blindfolded justice system.



Anyway, those who are interested to know some CEO who got jailed due to their fraud and mismanagement can refer to this article[1][2][3]


[1] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/who-is-elizabeth-holmes-disgraced-ceo-who-was-sentenced-to-more-than-11-years-in-prison-for-theranos-fraud/articleshow/95615174.cms
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60001147
[3] https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/10-ceos-who-went-boardroom-cell-block-flna783944

I very much agree. It is also not only about their connections to the government. They also appear to have connections with mainstream news media like the Wall Street Journal. I have never seen an article written about Sam that says he was running a criminal enterprise which appears he was. It is always articles with spinning storylines similar to this.



The FTX founder pledged to donate billions. His firm’s swift collapse wiped out his wealth and ambitious philanthropic endeavors.

Source https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-frieds-plans-to-save-the-world-went-down-in-flames-11669257574



Also, Alex Pertsev is in jail for writing an opensource program for helping the community mix their coins while Sam Bankrupt-Fried and Do Kwon are free hehe.

[mindrust]

Bankman-Fraud will get the Epstein treatment. Meaning, they will make him disappear and he is not going to spend a single day in a jail cell. When he has corrupted political friends like the Clintons, he can avoid any punishment. If the media tells you that he is in jail, that means he is in his home playing PS5. If they tell you he is dead, that means he has a new name, a new face (hopefully both his new name and face will be less stupid than his current ones) and he is in somewhere which you won’t ever know about.

[Gyfts]

Bankman-Fraud will get the Epstein treatment. Meaning, they will make him disappear and he is not going to spend a single day in a jail cell. When he has corrupted political friends like the Clintons, he can avoid any punishment. If the media tells you that he is in jail, that means he is in his home playing PS5. If they tell you he is dead, that means he has a new name, a new face (hopefully both his new name and face will be less stupid than his current ones) and he is in somewhere which you won’t ever know about.

He's a political donor. Out donated everyone except George Soros in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. He'll get the special treatment because democratic appointees are in the Department of Justice. It's not good for business when you prosecute your political donors, of course.

In any sane world, SBF would've already been in jail and charged with fraud, probably held without bail for being a flight risk. Makes you wonder what all those political donations were for. Maybe he saw his demise coming and figured lining up the pockets of politicians was his way out.

[laura906]

Hi everyone,
I'm Laura and I'm an Italian software programmer (I have pretty important websites that talks about Technology or Gifts in Italy).
Despite my technical skills, unfortunately I too am among those who have been heavily affected by the ftx scam.

Unfortunately my entire crypto portfolio was on Ftx, which I thought was an incredible exchange (and far superior to Binance).

I would like to ask one thing: the fact that Bankman is still free, isn't that good news? Couldn't he convince some influential politician or entrepreneur to take up the legacy of FTX and restart it? Maybe this way they could return some of the funds...

Am I wrong?

[MoonOfLife]

Bankman-Fraud will get the Epstein treatment. Meaning, they will make him disappear and he is not going to spend a single day in a jail cell. When he has corrupted political friends like the Clintons, he can avoid any punishment. If the media tells you that he is in jail, that means he is in his home playing PS5. If they tell you he is dead, that means he has a new name, a new face (hopefully both his new name and face will be less stupid than his current ones) and he is in somewhere which you won’t ever know about.

Until now many people still don't believe that Sam has ties to Democratic Party politicians, which is ridiculous. He is the 2nd largest donor in the US midterm elections and his parents are also democrats. No wonder he won't go to jail. Powerful members of the democratic party will whitewash his background in the purest way.

[Lucius]

My BTC savings have lost much value this month, and I know why. We all know. It's the FTX's debacle.

Don't blame only Bankman and his company, but all those who gave him money and trusted him. Such characters would never be able to do something like this if there were not millions of naive and gullible people who still believe in fairy tales, and it is not about children, but about adults to make the matter even more tragic.

The need to have a leader is much stronger than the idea represented by Bitcoin - all these people should go back to school and write the word "decentralization" a million times, and then maybe some of them would understand what it means.

[countryfree]

The Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission are all looking at the case, so I'm pretty optimistic it will be positive for BTC. More regulations are coming to exchanges, and that will be make the crypto world safer for the average guy.

It's all good. Except for Sam Bankman-Fried who should start to feel the heat.

[OgNasty]

We are soon going to find out just how corrupt officials can be. My guess is that Sam Bank-Fraud will likely end up on house arrest and they’ll claim he’s helping regulators claw back funds as a reason for the lenience. I think if you’re Sam you might even be glad this is all over. He’ll probably hang out in his penthouse for a year or two and then get all the funds he stashed away and live happily ever after. Meanwhile he left behind a million victims.

[S A KHAIR]

The Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission are all looking at the case, so I'm pretty optimistic it will be positive for BTC. More regulations are coming to exchanges, and that will be make the crypto world safer for the average guy.

It's all good. Except for Sam Bankman-Fried who should start to feel the heat.

You're mistaken, not only will there be regulation for centralized exchanges but it will be regulation for all crypto industries. It couldn't be more fitting for this rationale for the government to have the opportunity to intervene in crypto as it is now. Having regulation will help us avoid scams but with regulation, they will no longer be called decentralized.

[franky1]

The Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission are all looking at the case, so I'm pretty optimistic it will be positive for BTC. More regulations are coming to exchanges, and that will be make the crypto world safer for the average guy.

It's all good. Except for Sam Bankman-Fried who should start to feel the heat.

You're mistaken, not only will there be regulation for centralized exchanges but it will be regulation for all crypto industries. It couldn't be more fitting for this rationale for the government to have the opportunity to intervene in crypto as it is now. Having regulation will help us avoid scams but with regulation, they will no longer be called decentralized.

yep

the SEC can only regulate financial payment services.

however the CFTC has a broader scope. they can both regulates the services but also put regulations on the assets themselves
(quota's, quality control, lessen environmental impact, restrict who can invest (only professional investors)

for instance the CFTC along with the EPA put quotas on farming and quality of production. they can restrict which type of fertiliser and weed killer is used. etc.. all to ensure only whitelisted high quality traceable wheat enters the wheat commodity market

this is where if bitcoin is treated more as a commodity rather than an asset it opens the doors for the CFTC and the EPA. which meansin they can go after the mining industry and the the developers to do a PoS detonation(worse case, but possible)


when bitcoin was young 2009-2014 it was not deemed a currency meaning services were treated not as currency exchangers. but as merchants selling collectables(much like how NFT is not being regulated yet.
but since deemed as currency (lobbied under the false pretense of "mainstreaming". then SEC regulators found their way into the door
now if its changing to a commodity. CFTC gets it foot in the door

some will say "yea but what about the benefits that maybe a financial service can finally get an ETF and boom mainstream"

to which i reply "but what about them requiring all wallet developers to add code that meeds regulatory standard. or asks miners to not operate in certain locations or limit hashrate per location

[Ale88]

It will be a miracle if he does any jail time, let alone spending many years in prison. After all, he didn't sponsor both Democrats and Republicans for no reason.

I totally agree with you. This guy, thanks to the people that his parents know, won't go to jail simply because the law in this cases doesn't apply. Just the simply fact that he's still giving interviews etc is ridiculous, this guy is a criminal and yet he's allowed to do whatever he wants. The exchanges keep asking for more and more info about the users but then you can simply build your exchange, scam people, and be totally fine.

[royalfestus]

Do you believe that sending someone to jail will cause market movements to switch? It makes no real difference who he is, and he formed so much drama. Already, it has had a massive negative impact on the crypto market; if Sam Bankman-Friedgo is put in jail, the situation will worsen. It will not be good for the overall crypto industry. There is nothing wrong with Bitcoin, but the situation has ended up causing people to panic.

Although I won't place all the blame on FTX, I believe cryptocurrency will continue to experience trust issues with cases like this and bear markets can always have bad reactions to bad news. Bankman has shown such a disregard for the fraud's outcome. 5 senators prevented the probing of his action, after declaring bankrupcy he was still donating and it was observed that the parents acquired some housing properties lately worth hundred of millions of dollars. It seems no one has the courage to probe him. To avoid recurrence, we might need to avoid young developers who are deeply involved in politics.