Hedge Funder Linked To Credit Suisse Collapse Gets 18 Year Prison Sentence For Fraud, Market Manipulation

Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years in prison for fraud and market manipulation tied to the fund’s dramatic collapse in 2021. 

The Details: Hwang was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in New York to slightly less time than the 21 years prosecutors had sought in the case. 

Hwang’s lawyers had asked that he be given no prison time at all and Hwang asked the judge on Wednesday to impose a sentence that would allow him to continue to serve society. He also said that he felt “deep pain” about what happened at Archegos, according to a Bloomberg report.

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Hellerstein said Hwang’s request for no jail time was “utterly ridiculous” considering the amount of money involved. 

“The amount of losses that were caused by your conduct are larger than any amount of losses I’ve deal with as a judge,” Hellerstein said.

The judge also compared Hwang to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who received a 25-year sentence for fraud.

“What was worse? Mr. Bankman-Fried’s fraud or Mr. Hwang’s fraud?” Hellerstein asked.

The jury found that Hwang directed Archegos staff to relay that the firm had large positions in companies such as Apple Inc. AAPL and Microsoft Corp. MSFT. Archegos actually invested heavily in a small group of stocks that could be more easily manipulated. 

The collapse at Archegos contributed to the demise of Credit Suisse Group AG and rippled through Wall Street causing significant losses at Morgan Stanley MS, UBS Group AG UBS, Nomura Holdings NMR and other banks.

Former Archegos CFO Patrick Halligan was convicted alongside Hwang earlier in 2024 and will be sentenced separately in January.

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