FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, walks outside the Manhattan federal court in New York City, U.S. March 30, 2023.
"The memorandum distorts reality to support its precious 'loss' narrative and casts Sam as a depraved super-villain," defense lawyer Mark Mukasey wrote. Mukasey had previously said FTX customers were likely to be made whole as a result of the bankruptcy process, and that Bankman-Fried worked diligently after FTX's November 2022 collapse to recover funds before he was arrested the next month.
Prosecutors disputed that in their sentencing memorandum last week, arguing Bankman-Fried gambled with his customers' money out of greed and has refused to admit that what he did was wrong.