Current FTX CEO Says Disgraced Fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried's Remorse Is 'Nonexistent'

In a scathing letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, FTX Trading CEO John Ray alleges that disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried made “callously” and “demonstrably false” claims in his sentencing memo to secure a lighter prison term. According to Ray, the harm caused by SBF is “vast” and his remorse is “nonexistent.”

Ars Technica reports that Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the now-collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been accused of repeatedly lying in his sentencing memo to avoid what he considers a “grotesque” 110-year maximum prison term. In a detailed letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, FTX Trading CEO John Ray alleges that Bankman-Fried made several false claims to paint himself in a better light and reduce his sentence to just five to six years, despite prosecutors suggesting a sentence between 40 and 50 years.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (second on left) is led away in handcuffs by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas, on December 13, 2022. (MARIO DUNCANSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Ray states that Bankman-Fried “continues to live a life of delusion” by claiming that the “most reasonable estimate of loss” and “harm” to customers, lenders, and investors is “zero.” In reality, Ray has worked tirelessly to recover $10 billion in lost funds. Ray emphasizes the monumental task of addressing these claims and reducing them to their proper and “allowed” amount, stating that Bankman-Fried is “wrong, very wrong” to assume it is a “breeze.”

The letter also refutes Bankman-Fried’s claim that FTX is “solvent and safe,” with Ray pointing out that vast sums of money were stolen by the disgraced founder and converted into various assets, including Bahamas real estate, cryptocurrencies, and speculative ventures. Ray highlights that while some assets have been recovered through the efforts of dedicated professionals, many have not, such as bribes to Chinese officials and investments for which Bankman-Fried grossly overpaid. The CEO states that the harm was “vast” and that Bankman-Fried’s remorse is “nonexistent.”

According to Ray, Bankman-Fried falsely claimed that FTX customers should “get back all their money” and that he could help recover more value than the team behind the Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions. However, Ray argues that these petitions were necessary to stop the damage caused by Bankman-Fried’s crimes and that the recovery rates would have been substantially lower without them. The CEO also notes that some victims are “extremely unhappy” about stolen bitcoins, as prices have recently reached all-time highs, and they believe they should receive something closer to today’s value.

Ray further alleges that Bankman-Fried actively worked to hinder the preservation of assets by transferring them to the Bahamas and requesting reinstatement of his credentials to access the FTX systems. The CEO states that only by cutting off Bankman-Fried was the Chapter 11 team able to stop the bleeding, and he has no doubt that billions of dollars would have been lost or stolen without their efforts.