The article has been updated at 23.21.
Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison has been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in former crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried’s scam, Judge Lewis Kaplan said Tuesday in a New York court.
Alameda Research is the sister company of the cracked crypto exchange FTX, which was founded by Bankman-Fried in 2019. In late 2022, FTX went bankrupt with a bang, and Bankman-Fried’s personal fortune was decimated.
Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted for stealing eight billion dollars, equivalent to over DKK 56 billion, from customers. The money was siphoned out of the crashed FTX to make the money reach the hedge fund Alameda Research.
At Alameda Research, the money was used to pay lenders as well as lend money to Sam Bankman-Fried and other executives. In March, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud. He has said he is appealing the sentence.
29-year-old Caroline Ellison, who is also Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend, received a somewhat milder sentence. In this connection, Judge Lewis Kaplan placed particular emphasis on Ellison’s comprehensive cooperation with the prosecution. She pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud in connection with the collapse of the crypto exchange. At Tuesday’s sentencing, Caroline Ellison faced up to 110 years in prison.
Kaplan said at the hearing that there was no doubt that Ellison is guilty of the fraud. However, he also emphasized her “remarkable collaboration”, which he believed constituted a “fundamental difference” between Ellison and Bankman-Fried.
“I am convinced that there is no way you are going to do this kind of thing again,” the judge told Ellison.
“But this was, if not the biggest financial fraud ever committed in this country or anywhere else, close to it,” it continued.
Two other former bosses in FTX, who have also cooperated with the prosecutors, are scheduled to receive their sentencing on October 30 and November 20, respectively. These are Nishad Singh and Gary Wang.
ritzau
Source: politiken.dk
