Former Wall Street investor Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang was sentenced to 18 years in prison in a massive fraud case that cost banks billions of dollars.
The sentence comes after Hwang was found guilty of fraud and market manipulation in a case related to the bankruptcy of his investment fund Archegos Capital Management in 2021.
“The amount of loss caused by your conduct is greater than any other loss I have dealt with,” U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said before announcing the sentence, in quotes cited by the agency. Reuters press.
The prison term is slightly shorter than the 21-year term prosecutors sought, but it is still unusually long for a white-collar crime.
Prosecutors also sought compensation but the judge did not announce his decision on the matter. The sentencing hearing is expected to resume Thursday.
Hwang was convicted of lying to major investment banks while secretly amassing large bets on several companies.
When Archegos was unable to repay its lenders, it caused a massive sell-off of shares and the fund quickly collapsed in less than a week, making it one of the largest hedge fund collapses since the 2008 financial crisis.
Among the major banks that suffered huge losses following the Archegos implosion were Credit Suisse, now part of UBS, Japan's Nomura and Morgan Stanley.
Hwang's lawyers had asked that he not be punished, citing his Christian faith and his charitable donations.
They also said his wealth, which at one point was valued at around $30 billion (£23.7 billion), had fallen to around $55 million.
The judge called the leniency requests “completely ridiculous” because of the money involved and compared Hwang to disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud last year last, according to Bloomberg.
Hwang's lawyers did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.
Hwang's deputy at Archegos and co-defendant, Patrick Halligan, who was also convicted of three criminal charges in the same trial, is expected to be sentenced at a hearing scheduled for Jan. 27.
