bit.fan
SBF
15 days agoNews Editor

SBF asks U.S. Supreme Court to review conviction, challenges $11 billion forfeiture order

Sam Bankman-Fried has taken his criminal case to the U.S. Supreme Court after losing at the Second Circuit in June and facing an uncertain path on clemency. His petition, filed by attorney Jeffrey Fisher, raises two central arguments: that lower courts improperly blocked evidence that FTX customers have been receiving repayments and suffered limited actual losses, and that the $11 billion forfeiture order violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines. The government’s response deadline has been extended to Nov. 16, and the justices may decide in late 2026 or early 2027 whether to hear the case. Even if the court grants review, that would only mean it will hear arguments, not that the conviction will be overturned. The petition arrives as SBF continues to pursue both judicial and political routes, including a pardon request to President Donald Trump, while the U.S. Senate has already passed a resolution opposing any leniency. The article also notes a related development: former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison has returned to work, a move that sparked backlash online.

550
SBF asks U.S. Supreme Court to review conviction, challenges $11 billion forfeiture order
FTX
18 days agoNews Editor

SBF asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn fraud conviction and $11 billion forfeiture

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to overturn his fraud conviction and vacate an $11 billion forfeiture order. According to CNN, the petition was filed on Sept. 10 local time and is led by Alexandra A.E. Shapiro of Shapiro, Arato, Bach. Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence. The filing raises two legal questions. One concerns when a trial court may admit evidence showing whether alleged victims suffered economic loss when prosecutors proceed under a "fraudulent inducement" theory, where loss is argued to be legally irrelevant. The other asks whether the Eighth Amendment permits forfeiture or other criminal financial penalties that destroy a defendant’s future ability to earn a living. The defense argues that the trial court let prosecutors suggest customers suffered major losses while blocking evidence that customers had been repaid. It also says FTX and Alameda, despite a period of liquidity strain, always held enough assets to ultimately repay investors and customers, and that customers have now been repaid with interest. Bankman-Fried was convicted on multiple fraud and money laundering counts in 2023, sentenced in 2024, and saw that judgment upheld by the Second Circuit in June. The Supreme Court is expected to decide later this year whether to hear the case.

680
SBF asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn fraud conviction and $11 billion forfeiture
SBF
3 months agoNews Editor

US Appeals Court Affirms SBF Conviction, 25-Year Sentence and $11B Forfeiture

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has formally affirmed the conviction and sentencing of Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX. The lower court had convicted him on seven felony counts and sentenced him to 25 years in federal prison. A three-judge panel rejected Bankman-Fried's appeal arguments that FTX had sufficient liquidity and that investors would be fully repaid with no losses. The panel also upheld the $11 billion forfeiture order issued by the New York court in the criminal case. In the opinion, Circuit Judge Barrington D. Parker wrote that even if Bankman-Fried believed he would eventually repay customers, that does not affect the application of wire fraud law to the temporary misappropriation of funds or property. With the order now in effect, Bankman-Fried's legal avenues for early release have narrowed, leaving options such as a presidential pardon or an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

2310
US Appeals Court Affirms SBF Conviction, 25-Year Sentence and $11B Forfeiture
Helix
4 months agoNews Editor 01

U.S. DOJ Seizes $400M in Helix Mixer Assets: 4,500 Bitcoin and an Ohio Mansion

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., entered a final forfeiture order on January 21, 2026, transferring more than $400 million in cryptocurrency, cash, and real estate linked to the darknet mixing service Helix to the U.S. government. Helix operator Larry Dean Harmon was convicted of money laundering conspiracy, sentenced to three years in prison, and later released in December 2025 after completing a drug rehabilitation program. The forfeited assets include approximately 4,500 bitcoin (worth roughly $355 million at current prices), over $325,000 in cash, and an Ohio mansion purchased during Helix's heyday. The case highlights the U.S. government's relentless pursuit of darknet financial crimes and its ability to track and seize proceeds from illicit mixing services.

830
U.S. DOJ Seizes $400M in Helix Mixer Assets: 4,500 Bitcoin and an Ohio Mansion