By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, – Bill Hwang, the founder of Archegos Capital Management, is expected to spend 21 years in prison for running a market manipulation scheme that wiped out his $36 billion company and cost his company more than $10 billion. lenders, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Hwang, 60, faces sentencing scheduled for Nov. 20 in Manhattan federal court after being convicted in July of 10 criminal charges, including securities and wire fraud and racketeering conspiracy.

Prosecutors accused Hwang of lying to banks about Archegos’ portfolio so he could aggressively borrow money and make concentrated bets on media and technology stocks such as ViacomCBS, through of so-called total return swaps.

Hwang accumulated $160 billion in stock exposure but was unable to meet margin calls when prices began to fall.

This led to the demise of Archegos in March 2021 and resulted in heavy losses for banks such as Credit Suisse, now part of UBS, and Nomura Holdings, as various banks offloaded their shares securing the swaps by Hwang.

Hwang did not testify during his trial, which lasted two months. He is expected to appeal his conviction.

On November 8, Hwang’s lawyers said he should not be sentenced to prison.

The lawyers said prosecutors did not and could not prove that Hwang’s alleged lies caused losses to the banks. They also said Hwang’s age, cardiovascular disease, philanthropy and low risk of reoffending weighed against his imprisonment.

Hwang’s co-defendant, former Archegos CFO Patrick Halligan, was convicted at the same trial on three counts. His sentencing is scheduled for January 27, 2025.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modification to the text.