By Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former billionaire investor Sung Kook “Bill” Hwang was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, which cost Wall Street banks more than $10 billion.

Hwang was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan, where a jury convicted Hwang in July on 10 criminal charges, including bank fraud, securities fraud and market manipulation.

Archegos’ implosion in March 2021 lasted less than a week, stunning Wall Street lenders and Hwang.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan sought a 21-year prison sentence for Hwang — unusually long for a white-collar case — and that he forfeit $12.35 billion and pay restitution to the victims.

“It’s one of a rare group of cases that can truly be described as a national disaster,” prosecutor Andrew Thomas said during the sentencing hearing for Hellerstein.

Before sentencing Hwang, Hellerstein asked the defendant’s attorney, Dani James, how she thought Hwang compared to Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced in March to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion from users of the now-bankrupt FTX Scholarship.

“Mr. Bankman-Fried was literally stealing from his customers,” James said. “I don’t think that happened here.”

Hwang had asked for no jail time, forfeiture or restitution, and to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction. James said his low risk of committing further crimes meant a long prison sentence made no sense.

“The idea that he would commit a crime in the future is simply not true,” James said.

Bankman-Fried denies wrongdoing and is appealing his conviction.

STARTED AS A FAMILY OFFICE

Hwang, 60, was a protege of the late hedge fund billionaire Julian Robertson.

He founded Archegos in New York as a family office in 2013, the year after his former hedge fund Tiger Asia Management pleaded guilty to insider fraud in an insider case.

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, now called Paramount Global.

While Archegos ultimately managed $36 billion, Hwang’s loans helped him amass $160 billion in equity exposure.

His downfall occurred when Hwang was unable to meet margin calls as the prices of some of his favorite stocks began to fall and several banks sold off shares that backed his so-called total return swaps.

More than $100 billion of market value in Hwang’s stock was wiped out. Several banks suffered losses, including Credit Suisse, which lost $5.5 billion, and Nomura Holdings. Credit Suisse is now part of UBS.

Story continues