Christian Philanthropist Bill Hwang Sentenced In $10 Billion Fraud
Archegos founder Bill Hwang, formerly one of the wealthiest evangelical philanthropists, will spend 18 years in prison for business practices that led to more than $10 billion in losses to Wall Street banks in March 2021.
In what he called a case with “no precedent,” Manhattan U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein announced the prison sentence Wednesday, Nov. 20. The judge also added 3 years of supervised release and scheduled a December hearing to consider forfeiture and restitution payments to victims.
Hwang, 60, was convicted in July of wire fraud, securities fraud, racketeering and market manipulation. Prosecutors alleged he and his former chief financial officer, Patrick Halligan, had lied to banks to secure loans they used to inflate stock prices, which then plummeted in value after Archegos defaulted on highly leveraged margin calls.
About $100 billion vanished from the stock market in a week. Banks that had given loans to Archegos lost $10 billion, while Archegos itself lost $36 billion.
“I don’t remember a case where I had to deal with billions of dollars,” Hellerstein said, according to Christianity Today. “The amount of losses that were caused by your conduct are larger than any other losses I have dealt with.”
Prosecutor Andrew Thomas similarly emphasized the enormity of the damage, noting at the hearing that the case was “among a rare class of cases that truly could be described as a national calamity.”
While the 10-count conviction carried a maximum 200-year sentence, prosecutors only asked for 21 years due to Hwang’s “age and good works in his life.”
Hwang sought to avoid prison time completely — an option the judge called “ridiculous.” Defense attorneys cited his faith, devoted family life and ongoing work with his charity, The Grace & Mercy Foundation, which has donated at least $600 million to various causes over a span of 18 years.
“Bill’s only hobbies are faith, food, philanthropy, and books, and the project of his life is sharing them with everyone he meets,” the defense claimed in a pre-sentencing memo.
Hwang, who was seen reading a devotional multiple times during the hearing, asked in a statement to the court that his sentence “allow me to serve as much as I can given the circumstances,” according to Christianity Today.
The defense also presented 500 pages of testimonies from character witnesses, according to Christianity Today, including Grace & Mercy employees as well as dozens of Christian ministry leaders, many of whom have received funding from Hwang.
Some notable contributors were Kevin Palau, head of the Luis Palau Association; Mark Labberton, retired president of Fuller Theological Seminary; Ed Morgan, former head of The Bowery Mission; and Catherine Jackson, founder of prison ministry Defy Ventures.
“Your book of letters are a strong advocate for the kind of person and character that you have,” Hellerstein said.
However, the judge struggled to reconcile two seemingly very different versions of Bill Hwang and weigh his positive legacy against the catastrophic damage done by Archegos, insisting his good deeds were “not balanced” with his crimes.
“Why do good people do bad things?” Hellerstein asked at the hearing, according to Christianity Today. “Here’s a man spending a lifetime on charitable works who commits a terrible crime.”
While the defense emphasized Hwang’s charitable work, the prosecution noted how he gave many Grace & Mercy jobs to former Archegos executives who might otherwise testify against him.
And while the defense presented Hwang as a man with a humble lifestyle, Hellerstein countered that Hwang, whose billions in net worth have fallen to $55 million since Archegos’ collapse, rented an apartment in the upscale Hudson Yards development in Manhattan to live in during the trial.
At the hearing, Hwang apologized to all who “suffered” as a result of the collapse, but stopped short of admitting guilt. He plans to appeal the conviction.
This piece is republished from MinistryWatch.
Tony Mator is a Pittsburgh journalist, copywriter, blogger and musician who has done work for World magazine, The Imaginative Conservative and the Hendersonville Times-News, among others. Follow his work and observations at twitter.com/wise_watcher.