Bill Hwang Faces Sentencing for Historic Market Manipulation and Fraud Scheme

Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang, the founder and former head of Archegos Capital Management, is set to be sentenced on November 20, 2024, for his role in a massive market manipulation and fraud scheme. Hwang was convicted on July 10, 2024, by a 12-person jury in a federal court in Manhattan on 10 out of 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, and market manipulation.

The trial, which lasted two months, featured over 20 witnesses for the government, including two former Archegos employees, Scott Becker and William Tomita, who pleaded guilty to their own crimes and testified against Hwang. The prosecution alleged that Hwang orchestrated a historic fraud scheme that spanned over a year, involving elaborate market manipulation and acts of fraud aimed at generating billions of dollars in profits for himself and his family office.

Hwang’s actions had far-reaching consequences, including inflicting extraordinary losses on his business counterparties, such as Nomura and Credit Suisse, and contributing to the eventual collapse of Credit Suisse. The scheme also affected innocent employees of Archegos and other participants in the U.S. securities markets.

Advocacy groups, such as Better Markets, are calling for Hwang to be sentenced to over 20 years in prison and to be made penniless, reflecting the severity and impact of his crimes. Hwang’s sentencing was initially scheduled for October 28, 2024, but was postponed to November 20, 2024.

Hwang’s case has garnered significant attention both in the U.S. and in his birthplace, South Korea, where it is seen as a high-profile case of a Korean-American financier’s fall from prominence in the U.S. financial sector.