FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison, asked US President Donald Trump for clemency in an interview with The New York Sun.
According to him, at the time of bankruptcy the exchange remained solvent but illiquid. He added that employees of the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell were to blame for the incorrect assessment of the bankruptcy procedure.
Sam Bankman-Fried reiterated his argument that borrowing and lending were part of FTX's margin trading platform, not evidence of theft. He insisted that the exchange only "looked" insolvent.
The founder of the FTX exchange has appealed to US President Donald Trump for clemency, adding that his criminal case was the result of political pressure from the administration of former President Joseph Biden.
It should be noted that Sam Bankman-Fried was the second-largest donor to Biden's 2020 campaign. However, he emphasized that he supported both parties, using "shadow" funds to finance Republicans.
In his first days back in the White House, Trump decided to pardon the founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht. Perhaps Bankman-Fried is counting on another act of unexpected mercy.
