A federal judge has sentenced the former CEO of a major cryptocurrency exchange to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of orchestrating an $8 billion fraud that wiped out savings of 1.5 million customers.

The Scheme

Prosecutors proved the CEO secretly diverted customer deposits into personal trading accounts and luxury real estate purchases while fabricating account balances to conceal the theft.

Sentencing

The judge called it one of the largest financial frauds in American history. The defendant was also ordered to forfeit $11 billion in assets and pay $8 billion in restitution.