The fraud trial of the decade–or possibly this century—gets underway on Tuesday with jury selection for Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces seven charges related to the disappearance of billions of dollars of customer money from his FTX crypto exchange. There will be plenty to unpack in the coming weeks, but the most pressing question at the outset is a simple one: Why didn't Bankman-Fried cut a deal with the Justice Department in order to reduce his potential prison time?
I recently spoke with four white-collar crime experts, including three former prosecutors, for a Fortune feature on the subject. To be clear, Bankman-Fried has only been charged with the crimes and, like anyone else, is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless a jury finds otherwise. But the experts shared my view that prosecutors have a mountain of damning evidence—including testimony from his top lieutenants at FTX—to put Bankman-Fried away for a long time.
