- Sam Bankman-Fried says he is “haunted every day” by what happened at FTX.
- The disgraced crypto mogul told ABC News he never thought what he was doing was illegal.
- Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts and sentenced last week to 25 years in prison.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said he “never intended to hurt anyone or take anyone’s money.”
“I never thought what I was doing was illegal. But I tried to hold myself to high standards, and I certainly didn’t meet those standards,” the disgraced crypto mogul told ABC News in an interview published Monday.
Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts, including fraud and money laundering, and sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison.
“He knew it was wrong. He knew it was criminal. He regrets making a very bad bet on the likelihood of getting caught,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Thursday of Bankman -Fried.
Bankman-Fried, however, expressed remorse for her actions during her interview with ABC News.
“I am haunted, every day, by what was lost. It was never my intention to hurt anyone or take anyone’s money,” Bankman-Fried told the outlet . “But I was the CEO of FTX, I was responsible for what happened to the company, and when you’re responsible, it doesn’t matter why it went wrong.”
FTX’s implosion in 2022 ruined its customers’ finances, with some claiming they lost their entire savings after the crypto exchange collapsed.
“I would give anything to help repair even some of the damage. I’m doing what I can from prison, but it’s deeply frustrating that I can’t do more,” he said. -he continued.
Bankman-Fried’s representative told BI he had no further comment on the interview.
Bankman-Fried’s legal team, which initially requested a sentence of 6.5 years, said it would appeal. Before his sentencing Thursday, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that prosecutors were exaggerating their client’s offenses.
His attorney, Marc Mukasey, further argued in a Feb. 27 sentencing memorandum that FTX’s victims “are ready to recover – have always been ready to recover – one hundred cents on the dollar.”
In February, lawyers for FTX’s debtors told a Delaware bankruptcy court that creditors and customers could expect recovery, according to Axios.
But new FTX CEO John Ray III disagrees with Bankman-Fried’s claims.
In a letter filed in New York District Court on March 20, Ray said the only reason FTX was able to get some of its assets back was because they took Bankman-Fried out of the business.
“Mr. Bankman-Fried continues to live a life of delusion. The company he left on November 11, 2022 was neither solvent nor secure,” Ray wrote.
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