NEW YORK — On Wednesday, a co-founder of FTX was sentenced to no prison time. This decision came after both a federal judge and a prosecutor recognized his significant cooperation against Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as his ongoing efforts to help recover funds for those affected by the cryptocurrency fraud.
Gary Wang, who served as FTX’s chief technology officer, testified for portions of three days at Bankman-Fried’s trial last year. During his testimony, he detailed his involvement in what Judge Lewis A. Kaplan characterized as one of the largest frauds in U.S. history.
Judge Kaplan lauded Wang for being the first individual to cooperate following the collapse of FTX in November 2022. His insights were instrumental, as Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos indicated that Wang’s cooperation allowed for the swift extradition of Bankman-Fried from the Bahamas in December 2022.
Bankman-Fried, now 32 years old, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for orchestration of a fraud scheme that misappropriated over $11 billion from customers, investors, and lenders. Once hailed as a pioneering force in the cryptocurrency arena, FTX’s downfall was ignited by a scandal that revealed years of deceit plaguing Bankman-Fried’s operations, which ran from 2017 to 2022.
During the proceedings, Wang took the opportunity to express regret to customers and investors affected by the fraud. He stated, “I’m deeply sorry to all the people hurt by my actions. There were so many things I could have done differently.” He further reflected on his decisions, admitting, “I took the cowardly path instead of doing the right thing. Nothing I do will ever be able to make up for it.”
Roos commended Wang’s subsequent contributions, referring to his actions as heroic, especially given that he played a minimal part in the fraudulent schemes and did not craft the intricate computer code that facilitated the fraud. Roos emphasized that during his initial discussions with prosecutors, Wang was able to clarify a substantial portion of the case, stating, “He deciphered basically half the case for us,” noting that without Wang’s input, uncovering the details could have taken extensive time.
Wang has reportedly maintained his cooperation with various agencies and those working to reclaim funds for the investors of FTX. Additionally, he has developed software that assists in identifying unrelated financial fraud cases. In delivering the sentence, Judge Kaplan acknowledged that Wang bore “limited culpability” in the overall fraud scheme.