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Illegal Financiers
The intriguing and cautionary tales of people in finance who have faced legal challenges. These are people who have been convicted of crimes.
Sam Bankman-Fried
FTX / Alameda Research
Context
"Financial entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, was convicted on seven charges of fraud and conspiracy following the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022." source
Other affiliations (no legal guilt implied)
Forbes 30 Under 30
Effective Altruism
MIT
Sequoia Capital
Bill Hwang
Archegos Capital Management
Status
Convicted, in prison
Do Kwon
Terra / Luna
Status
Pled guilty, in prison
Charges
Fraud
Conspiracy
Money laundering
Other affiliations (no legal guilt implied)
Forbes 30 Under 30
Alex Mashinsky
Celsius Network
Charlie Javice
Frank
Status
Convicted, in prison
Charges
Securities fraud
Wire fraud
Bank fraud
Conspiracy
Other affiliations (no legal guilt implied)
Forbes' 30 under 30
Crain's New York's 40 under 40
UPenn
Nicholas Genovese
Willow Creek Investments
Status
Context
"Genovese induced more than $11.2 million in investments in a hedge fund that he founded, Willow Creek Investments LP (“Willow Creek”), by misrepresenting his qualifications and professional background and concealing that he had prior felony convictions for fraud-related crimes" source
Jordan Belfort
Stratton Oakmont
Status
Convicted, served time. Is now free.
Bernie Madoff
Madoff Investment Securities
Status
Pled guilty, died in prison
Michael Rothenberg
Rothenberg Ventures
Status
Convicted, awaiting sentencing
Context
"According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mike Rothenberg 'orchestrated a years-long, massive fraud and posed a substantial risk of loss to investors, with $18.8 million misappropriated.'" source
Other affiliations (no legal guilt implied)
Harvard Business School
Stanford
Martin Shkreli
Status
Convicted, served time. Is now free.
Other affiliations (no legal guilt implied)
Forbes 30 Under 30
Nishad Singh
FTX
Status
Pled guilty, no jail time
Gary Wang
FTX
Status
Pled guilty, sentenced to time served
Changpeng (CZ) Zhao
Binance
Status
Pled guilty, served time. Pardoned by Trump.
Context
"Zhao pled guilty to violating the American Bank Secrecy Act by prioritizing Binance's growth over compliance with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's anti-money laundering requirements. Although Zhao only personally pled guilty to a single criminal charge, as part of plea bargain negotiations, Zhao agreed for Binance to also admit to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act." source