>It's undeniable he committed fraud, repeatedly lied to his clients and tried to make them give him money by telling them tales that weren't true.
What on earth is the difference between this and Madoff?
>But it also seems likely he thought he was clever/lucky enough that it would all work out in the end.
What on earth is the difference between this and Madoff?
>That makes the intent different
Why do you assume bad intent in one case and none in the other? SBF stole customer money and used it for political donations during one of the most heated, divisive, controversial elections in recent American history. He's the sitting President's largest donator, and he's going to prison for fraud. The potential consequences here are massive.
There's a possibility that the customers of FTX recover most or all of their money, thanks to SBF's investments.
Those investments were fraudulent because they were made without the consent of the people providing the money, but they were investments nonetheless: SBF was buying assets, not just pissing money away in jets and catering (although he also did that).
In Madoff's case there were no assets at all. It was not possible for Madoff to convince himself he was doing something that may become viable, given enough time. It was possible for SBF.
I think that's a pretty big difference.
(Also, campaign finance violations are not part of the trial that just ended, at all.)
It's undeniable he committed fraud, repeatedly lied to his clients and tried to make them give him money by telling them tales that weren't true.
But it also seems likely he thought he was clever/lucky enough that it would all work out in the end.
That makes the intent different, and culpability is always about intent.
In fact SBF reminds me more of Billy McFarland (of Fyre Festival fame) than of Madoff.