FTX’s Gary Wang spared prison time in fraud case

Gary Wang, the last of the FTX executives, will not face prison time after helping prosecutors crack the code of Sam Bankman-Fried’s fake empire.

U.S. Senior Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled to spare Wang from prison as FTX’s case was settled two years after the defunct crypto exchange collapsed.

Wang was the first of Bankman-Fried’s aides to contact authorities in 2022, according to prosecutors. Wang admitted to the fraud allegation in December, weeks after the SBF exchange crash.

Judge Kaplan added that Wang’s cooperation was exemplary and that he had never received such insider help before, according to Inner City Press. The court’s decision granted Wang three years’ probation, meaning he would be released on parole.

Judge Kaplan: You did what was right for yourself and your country. This was certainly among the 2 or 3 largest, if not the largest financial fraud in US history. The decision of this court is that you will be sentenced to prison.

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) 20 November 2024

Long before they founded the two crypto giants, Gary Wang and Sam Bankman-Fried became friends during their high school math summer. Wang created code to support Alameda Research’s trading operations and eventually served as chief technology officer at FTX.

Wang challenged many of Bankman-Fried’s decisions at both companies. Citing testimony from multiple witnesses, federal prosecutors said the SBF frequently vetoed elections despite Wang’s reservations.

The FTX co-founder would later help government investigators track down tangled assets and embezzled funds from Bankman-Fried’s conglomerate. Wang also testified in SBF’s fraud trial, revealing illegal privileges granted to Alameda Research at the expense of client funds.

While Bankman-Fried was found guilty of fraud in court and appealed her 25-year prison sentence, her entire inner circle signed plea agreements to reduce the term. In September, Alameda’s former co-CEO Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison.

Former FTX Digital Market co-CEO Ryan Salame began serving his 7.5-year sentence last month. One-time FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh made a decision similar to Wang’s; no prison time and three years probation.