EXCLUSIVE: Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents visit their disgraced FTX founder son in prison as he awaits sentencing and they face their own legal troubles

Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents still are are holding on to their disgraced FTX founder son after being convicted of fraud last week.

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried visiting their son on Tuesday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Sam is being held while he awaits sentencing.

Bankman-Fried now faces up to 115 years in prison.

The Stanford law professors who are now being sued by FTX for allegedly reaping significant profits from helping run their son’s crypto empireShe collapsed in court last week after he was found guilty of embezzling $10 billion of his clients’ money, “one of the largest financial frauds in American history.”

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried visiting their son at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday

Her son, Sam Bankman-Fried, is incarcerated at the MDC in Brooklyn awaiting sentencing

Barbara was seen on Tuesday wearing a gray cardigan, jeans and a bright red backpack

The parents of the Stanford law professors are now being sued by FTX to recoup the millions they lost

Wearing a black coat and jeans, Joseph smiled once as he left the prison

Barbara, wearing a gray cardigan, jeans and a bright red backpack, and Joseph, wearing a black coat and jeans, form a united front as they now face their own legal problems through a civil lawsuit.

Bankman-Fried was convicted last week on all seven counts against him

FTX, which filed for bankruptcy last year, is seeking to recoup from the couple millions that their son allegedly gave them in cash and gifts.

According to the lawsuit, “Bankman and Fried exploited their influence and status as Bankman-Fried’s parents to enrich themselves at the expense of FTX Group.”

In one place. Joseph, who FTX lawyers say was a “de facto official, director and/or manager” in Bankman-Fried’s empire, smiled as he left prison.

The sighting comes days after her 31-year-old son was convicted of all seven counts against him. The jury reached its unanimous verdict in less than five hours.

His parents sat in the front row of the courtroom and hugged each other as the verdict was read.

Barbara fought back tears and put her fingers in her ears to drown out the judge’s words while Joseph held his head in his hands.

Her son was then led back to the cell, nodding to his parents as he passed them. His mother responded by touching her breast.

Bankman Fried will be sentenced on March 28, but his lawyer Mark Cohen insisted they would continue to “vigorously fight the charges.”

Barbara and Joseph continue to support their son and were filmed visiting the Bahamas prison where Sam was awaiting trial almost a year ago. They brought him supplies for the vegan He cited the diet as a reason why he should be released on bail.

Even before his arrest, the couple was seen at Sam’s $16.4 million penthouse in the Bahamas, pacing on the patio and chatting animatedly as news of FTX’s collapse broke.

Joseph Bankman and his wife Barbara Fried broke down as their son’s guilty verdict was announced Thursday evening

In the picture, Bankman-Fried stands while the verdict is read. The jury reached its unanimous verdict in less than five hours

Even before his arrest, the couple was seen at Sam’s $16.4 million penthouse in the Bahamas, pacing on the patio and chatting animatedly as news of FTX’s collapse broke

Barbara and Joseph continue to support their son and were filmed visiting the Bahamas prison where Sam was awaiting trial almost a year ago

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in court after the verdict that Bankman-Fried “perpetuated one of the largest financial fraud cases in American history.”

Williams said that while cryptocurrency was new, the fraud committed by Bankman-Fried was “as old as time.”

“A multi-billion dollar plan to make him the king of cryptocurrencies,” Williams said.

“Here’s the thing: the cryptocurrency industry might be new; “The players like Sam Bankman-Fried may be new – but this kind of fraud, this kind of corruption is as old as time and we have no patience for it.”

Williams praised his team that led the prosecution and said Bankman-Fried’s conviction should serve as a warning to other would-be fraudsters.

“When I became U.S. attorney, I promised that we would relentlessly fight corruption in our financial markets,” he said.

“This is what relentlessness looks like.” This case was moving at the speed of light. That wasn’t a coincidence, that was a decision.

“This is also a message, in this case a warning, to every single fraudster out there who believes that they are untouchable or that their crimes are too complex for us to uncover.”

“Or that they are too powerful for us to prosecute, or that they might try to talk their way out of it if they get caught.”

“These people should think again and stop doing this – and if they don’t, I promise we will have enough handcuffs for all of them.”

He added: “This verdict would not have been possible without the incredible work of the career prosecutors in my office and the FBI special agents who were there every step of the way.”

“We pushed them hard and they met the moment and I am grateful for their service.”

Cohen indicated they would appeal the ruling.

“We respect the jury’s decision,” he said in a statement. “But we are very disappointed with the result.”

“Mr. Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the allegations against him.”

The 31-year-old is seen standing in Manhattan on Thursday evening as the jury foreman reads the verdict

Bankman-Fried will be speaking to his lawyers after the verdict is announced. They later indicated that they intended to appeal

Bankman-Fried will be sentenced on March 28, but his lawyer Mark Cohen (pictured) insisted they would continue to “vigorously fight the charges.”

The decision marked the finale of his $10 billion fraud trial related to the spectacular collapse of his crypto empire in November 2022.

Prosecutors argued that Bankman-Fried, through FTX and its sister company Alameda Research, built a “pyramid of deception” to “steal” billions of dollars in customer assets to gain “money, influence and power.”

His defense attorneys, who likened the dramatic trial to a movie, argued that the MIT math graduate “never sought to harm anyone” but made “mistakes” while running two multibillion-dollar companies.

Bankman Fried experienced a wave of hype around crypto and before it collapsed in November last year, FTX was worth $32 billion.

He was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine and appeared on stage Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Bankman-Fried was hailed as the future of finance – crypto’s Steve Jobs, who planned to give away his wealth as part of what he called the doctrine of “effective altruism.”

But as prosecutors argued in court, he “lied to the world” because in reality he was simply steal the money from FTX customers.

The “house of cards” collapsed last year when crypto prices fell and media reports raised questions about how much of the $32 billion valuation was based on FTT, FTX’s crypto token.

When customers tried to withdraw their money, the crypto equivalent of a bank run occurred and FTX was shut down.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk