Firm News

On March 28, 2024, Partner Paul Tuchmann appeared on CNBC to discuss Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial and his 25-year prison sentence for his role in defrauding depositors, investors, and lenders of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.  Paul explained that he doesn’t believe Bankman-Fried’s apology on the stand favorably influenced his sentencing, because while Bankman-Fried expressed “sadness” and “regret” for his colleagues at FTX and the depositors who lost money, he didn’t truly accept responsibility for his criminal conduct. 

Also on March 28, Paul was quoted in stories in NBC News and WIRED on Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial and sentencing.

As to the trial, NBC news quoted Paul saying that Bankman-Fried’s testimony had been “unpersuasive” and noted it took the jury only three hours to convict him on each count.

In the WIRED article, Paul highlighted the weakness in Bankman-Fried’s argument at sentencing that FTX depositors suffered no loss for Sentencing Guidelines purposes – specifically, he can “never put the toothpaste back in the tube,” because the fact that FTX users are set to recover money at an unspecified future date through the bankruptcy process “does not nearly undo the harm they suffered” in the intervening period.

To view the CNBC appearance, click here.

To read the WIRED article, click here.

To read the NBC News article, click here.