FTX co-creator Gary Wang seeks judge's ruling to avoid jail time before sentencing
On November 7, lawyers for FTX co-founder Gary Wang argued that Wang should not have been jailed, that he cooperated with the authorities, and did not know the extent of the exchange's crimes.
According to a sentencing memo filed on Wednesday, Wang said he had no knowledge of the misappropriation of FTX clients' funds by sister company Alameda Research, and only learned of the fraud after it "went well". Wang is due to be sentenced in a New York court on Nov. 20. Wang, whose son is due a week later, on Nov. 27, and his wife, Cheryl Chen, are already full-time software engineers. His current work includes supporting "forensic firms, criminal investigators and judicial professionals seeking to preserve evidence faithfully," the memo said.
Wang later testified at the SBF trial, telling the court that the SBF had secretly granted special privileges to Alameda Research's FTX accounts. "Crucially, as the government has acknowledged and the trial evidence shows, when Gary wrote the code, he had no idea that Bankman-Fried would use these features to steal client funds," the lawyer added. "Bankman-Fried didn't even notify Gary before it started using these features."