Prosecutors Seek 21 Years For Archegos Founder Bill Hwang

Federal prosecutors are seeking a 21-year prison sentence for Bill Hwang, founder of Archegos Capital Management, following a market manipulation scheme that collapsed his $36 billion firm and caused over $10 billion in losses to its lenders, Jonathan Stempel reported for Reuters.

Prosecutors labeled Hwang as an "unrepentant recidivist" who continues to see himself as blameless. I Photo: SUNY Korea

In a late-night court filing, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan also requested a $12.35 billion forfeiture and restitution payments to victims. Hwang’s sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.

If imposed, the 21-year term would be one of the longest sentences for white-collar crime in the United States—just four years shorter than the term given to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, convicted earlier this year of misappropriating billions from customers.

Prosecutors labeled Hwang as an "unrepentant recidivist" who continues to see himself as blameless.

They referenced a 2012 guilty plea by his former hedge fund, Tiger Asia Management, for wire fraud, and noted that Hwang’s legal team recently argued he should serve no prison time for his actions at Archegos.

"Bill Hwang used his personal hedge fund to commit a fraud that manipulated the American stock market and inflicted billions of dollars in losses on his trading partners," prosecutors stated.

"He continued this fraud even after being previously ordered not to engage in securities violations. To this day, he shows no remorse."