Archegos' Bill Hwang to be sentenced for massive US fraud

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Former billionaire investor Bill Hwang could face a long stay in prison after he is sentenced on Wednesday over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, which cost Wall Street banks more than $10 billion.

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

Prosecutors are seeking a 21-year prison term, and for Hwang to forfeit $12.35 billion and make restitution to victims.

Hwang asked for no prison, forfeiture or restitution. He also wants to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction, saying he is not a flight risk or threat to the community.

The March 2021 collapse of Archegos took less than a week, stunning Hwang's lenders and marking the fall from grace of the protege of late hedge fund billionaire Julian Robertson.

Hwang, 60, whose given name is Sung Kook Hwang, set up Archegos in New York as a family office in 2013, the year after his former hedge fund Tiger Asia Management pleaded guilty to wire fraud in an insider-trading case.

Prosecutors accused Hwang of lying to banks about Archegos' portfolio so he could borrow money aggressively and make concentrated bets on media and technology stocks such as ViacomCBS, now called Paramount Global.

While Archegos eventually managed $36 billion, Hwang's borrowing helped him amass $160 billion of exposure to stocks.

His downfall occurred when Hwang was unable to meet margin calls, as the prices of some of his favorite stocks began falling and various banks unloaded stocks that had backed his so-called total return swaps.

More than $100 billion of market value in Hwang's stocks was wiped out. Several banks suffered losses, including Credit Suisse, which lost $5.5 billion, and Nomura Holdings 8604.T. Credit Suisse is now part of UBS UBSG.S.

In seeking a 21-year term, prosecutors called Hwang an "unrepentant recidivist" who has shown no remorse and "judged himself blameless."

They said a stiff sentence was needed to alert "even the most hubristic investors" not to break the law.

Hwang's lawyers have argued that prosecutors did not prove his alleged lies caused losses, and that Hwang's age, health and low risk of recidivism justified no prison time.

Their request for no punishment also cited Hwang's Christian faith and his nonprofit Grace and Mercy Foundation, which has since 2006 donated at least $600 million to combat homelessness, poverty and human trafficking, among other causes.

Hwang's lawyers have said his net worth has fallen to "at most" $55.3 million.

A 21-year term would be unusually long for a U.S. white-collar crime case.

It is only four years shorter than FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried received in March after being convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers. Prosecutors had sought a minimum 40-year term for Bankman-Fried.

Hwang's co-defendant, former Archegos Chief Financial Officer Patrick Halligan, was convicted at the same trial on three criminal charges. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 27. Both chose not to testify at their two-month trial.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel)

((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))