Archegos Capital Management’s former chief risk officer avoided prison for his role in the firm’s meltdown after testifying against founder Bill Hwang at a fraud and market manipulation trial that riveted Wall Street.
Scott Becker, one of two star cooperating witnesses who took the stand last year against Hwang and former Archegos chief financial officer Patrick Halligan, was sentenced Wednesday to three years’ probation. Becker told jurors at the trial he was instructed to lie to Archegos’ Wall Street counterparties about the firm’s portfolio and cash position.
“I lied to banks to induce them to make loans to Archegos to pursue its trading,” Becker said on the stand.
Banks including Credit Suisse Group AG, UBS Group AG, Morgan Stanley and Nomura Holdings ultimately lost some $10 billion when Archegos imploded in March 2021. Hwang and Halligan were both convicted in July 2024 of misleading the banks into providing them with billions of dollar of trading capacity that was used to inflate the value of Archegos’ portfolio to around $36 billion.
Hwang was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Halligan got eight years. Both are free on bail while they appeal.
Becker pleaded guilty to fraud in 2022 and agreed to testify against his former bosses. Prosecutors asked Judge Laura Taylor Swain for leniency in light of his cooperation.
At his Wednesday sentencing, Becker told Swain that he felt “shame, regret and remorse” for his actions in helping cause billions of dollars in losses.
“I was a coward and my selfish actions will always be a source of pain for me,” he said.
Swain called Becker’s crimes “gravely serious” and far-reaching, noting the harm to employees who lost their jobs in the demise of Credit Suisse. But she credited his cooperation with US investigators and his remorse for his actions.
Over the course of five days on the stand, Becker described his interactions with both his bosses and Archegos’ counterparties. He testified that Hwang was a micro-manager who made all important decisions at the firm. That included getting banks to increase the firm’s trading capacity by any means necessary.
Toward the end, when Archegos was facing massive margin calls, Becker participated in calls in which banks were reassured that the firm was experiencing “a liquidity issue, not a solvency one.”
Becker, who reported to Halligan, had limited dealings with Hwang and didn’t participate directly in Archegos’ trading. The firm’s polo-playing former head trader, William Tomita, was the prosecution’s other star witness at trial. Tomita will be sentenced next month.
The case is US v. Becker, 22-cr-00231, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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