Sam Bankman-Fried files pardon request while serving 25-year term
What's new: The Justice Department's pardon office lists the fraud conviction request as pending, even as he appeals the case.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the imprisoned founder of crypto exchange FTX, has filed a pardon request with the Justice Department while serving a 25-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy. Online records from the Office of the Pardon Attorney show the application is pending. Bankman-Fried, 34, was convicted in New York over the collapse of FTX and the movement of customer funds to Alameda Research, his affiliated hedge fund. He is seeking a pardon rather than a commutation, meaning he is asking for the conviction to be forgiven after he serves his sentence. President Donald Trump said in a January interview that he did not plan to pardon him. Bankman-Fried is also appealing his conviction.