Bankman-Fried asks Supreme Court to overturn fraud conviction and $11 billion forfeiture

September 11, 2026 at 09:19 AM2 min

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Sam Bankman-Fried filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his fraud conviction and $11 billion forfeiture. The FTX co-founder argues the trial court wrongly excluded evidence that customers were repaid. He is serving a 25-year sentence after a jury convicted him on seven counts.

Key Facts

Sam Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him on seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
The petition argues the trial court blocked evidence that FTX and Alameda held sufficient assets to make customers whole, and that customers have now been repaid with substantial interest.
Bankman-Fried claims the $11 billion forfeiture order violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on excessive fines.
In June, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction, relying on the Supreme Court's 2025 decision in Kousisis v. United States.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide later this year whether to hear the case, according to CNN.

The Petition

Bankman-Fried filed the petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on September 10, 2026. The petition argues the trial court blocked Bankman-Fried from showing that FTX and Alameda, while temporarily illiquid, held sufficient assets to ultimately make investors and customers whole. It states that there were always more than enough assets available to repay customers, and that customers have now been repaid with substantial interest. Bankman-Fried also claims the $11 billion forfeiture violates the Eighth Amendment, which bars excessive fines.

Appellate History

In June, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction. The panel relied on the Supreme Court's 2025 decision in Kousisis v. United States, which ruled that an action can constitute wire fraud without the intent of net economic harm. This rejected Bankman-Fried's no-loss argument.

Legal Questions

The first question presented in the petition asks when a trial court may admit evidence of victim losses under the 'fraudulent inducement' theory of fraud. The petition argues such evidence should have been excluded, and that it was an error to allow the government to suggest large customer losses while forbidding the defense from showing customers were repaid. The Supreme Court is expected to decide later this year whether to hear the case, according to CNN.