This week, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is on trial for committing or conspiring to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. The media is focused on the topics readers can all relate to— his immorality, or that of crypto; the sums of money involved; or the nature of the charges, which are not everyday words.
The last point—charges—is closest to what this trial is really about. They are: wire fraud, a scam that reaps wrongful or criminal financial gain via the internet or old-fashioned telephone. Money laundering: disguising financial assets generated from criminal activity so they look legitimate. Securities fraud: the go-to theory for litigating financial misconduct, being easy to bring to court with big payoff potential, as Bloomberg’s Matt Levine has famously argued.
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