Lawyers representing Ryan Salama requested that the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets be sentenced to no more than 18 months in prison.
In a May 14 filing with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Salama’s legal team said that in addition to the “substantial restitution and forfeiture obligations” made by the former FTX executive, there is a prison sentence of no more than 18 months. In prison he was “adequate.” Salameh pleaded guilty in September 2023 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter company and engage in campaign finance fraud, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lewis Kaplan on May 28.
“(Salama) had absolutely no knowledge that the four individuals at the Alameda Center and FTX conspired to lie and steal from their clients,” his lawyers alleged in a May 14 sentencing memorandum. “Ryan didn’t steal from anyone. He did not lie to clients. He was duped, as was everyone else, into believing that the companies were legitimate, solvent, and highly profitable.
The deposit added:
“As Carolyn Ellison testified at the Bankman-Fried trial, even as the FTX exchange was collapsing on November 6, 2022, she and Bankman-Fried conspired to keep Ryan in the dark about their fraud, misleading him just as they misled the rest of the world. the world.”
Salama reported FTX’s fraudulent activities to the Bahamas Securities Commission on November 9, 2022 – just two days before former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried stepped down and the exchange filed for bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried was later extradited to the United States from the Bahamas and convicted of seven felony counts. In March, a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
According to Salama’s lawyer, an 18-month prison sentence was appropriate for the former FTX executive because he occupied “the lowest rung in the conspiracies he admitted to committing” and was unlikely to commit similar crimes. In contrast to the Bankman-Fried case, which appeared to serve as a deterrent to individuals in the cryptocurrency space, Salama has “genuinely accepted responsibility” for his actions.
Related: FTX victims describe ‘irreparable damage’ ahead of Sam Bankman Fried’s sentencing
The former executive is likely the second figure linked to FTX and Alameda Research to be sentenced after Bankman-Fried. Former Alameda CEO Carolyn Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh pleaded guilty to the charges and testified in the SBF criminal trial, but it was not clear at press time whether They were going to spend time in prison.
After pleading guilty in 2023, Salama remained free on $1 million bail. As part of his plea deal with prosecutors, he will have to pay nearly $6 million in penalties to the U.S. government, $6 million to FTX’s debtors, and turn over two properties and a company. His lawyers said this would leave him with “no remaining assets.”
magazine: Can You Trust Cryptocurrency Exchanges After FTX Crash?
