Archegos founder Bill Hwang sentenced to 18 years in jail | EUROtoday

Former Wall Street investor, Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang, has been sentenced to 18 years in jail in an enormous fraud case that value banks billions of {dollars}.

The sentence comes after Hwang was discovered responsible of fraud and market manipulation in a case linked to the failure of his funding fund Archegos Capital Management in 2021.

“The amount of losses that were caused by your conduct are larger than any other losses I have dealt with,” US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein mentioned earlier than saying the sentence, in quotes cited by Reuters information company.

The jail time period was barely shorter than the 21-year jail sentence sought by prosecutors, however remains to be unusually lengthy for a white-collar crime.

Prosecutors had additionally been searching for a restitution fee however the choose has not introduced his determination on the matter. The sentencing listening to is ready to renew on Thursday.

Hwang was discovered responsible of mendacity to main funding banks as he secretly amassed giant bets on a number of firms.

When Archegos was unable to repay its lenders, it prompted a mass sell-off of shares and the fund rapidly collapsed in lower than per week, making it one of many largest hedge fund collapses for the reason that 2008 monetary disaster.

Among the foremost banks that suffered big losses because of Archegos’ implosion have been Credit Suisse, which has since turn into part of UBS, Japan’s Nomura and Morgan Stanley.

Hwang’s legal professionals had referred to as for him to not be punished, citing his Christian religion and his donations to charity.

They additionally mentioned his wealth, which at one level was valued at an estimated $30bn (£23.7bn), had fallen to an estimated $55m.

The choose referred to as the requests for leniency “utterly ridiculous” because of the cash concerned and in contrast Hwang to the disgraced founding father of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, who obtained a 25-year sentence for fraud final yrin line with Bloomberg.

Hwang’s legal professionals didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from the BBC.

Hwang’s deputy at Archegos and co-defendant, Patrick Halligan, who was additionally discovered responsible on three felony costs on the similar trial, is ready to be sentenced at a listening to scheduled for 27 January.