Wall Street’s Most Famous Evangelical Sentenced in Unprecedented Fraud Case

Christian philanthropist and one-time billionaire Bill Hwang was sentenced to 18 years on Wednesday for Wall Street fraud that amounted to $10 billion in losses.

“I don’t remember a case where I had to deal with billions of dollars,” said Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court, comparing Hwang’s crimes to those of Sam Bankman-Fried and Bernie Madoff. “There’s no precedent here.”

Hwang, 60, was at one time one of the wealthiest evangelicals in the United States, with about $30 billion to his name through his investment firm Archegos Capital Management, named to refer to Jesus.

He also started a Christian foundation with about $600 million of his wealth, the Grace & Mercy Foundation, which supports ministries around the world.

The sentencing hearing was filled with religious references: from the judge quoting a psalm in his sentencing to the defense citing Hwang’s Christian faith and philanthropy.

Archegos collapsed in March 2021, leaving banks with billions in losses because of Hwang’s misrepresentations to his lenders, a jury found. Hwang was convicted in July of racketeering, securities fraud, market manipulation, and wire fraud.

Hwang’s previous hedge fund Tiger Asia pleaded guilty to a criminal fraud charge in 2012; Hwang entered a $44 million civil settlement related to that case without admitting fault. He converted Tiger Asia to Archegos.

Referencing the Tiger Asia fraud, US attorney Andrew Mark Thomas described Hwang as a “recidivist” and said the Archegos fraud was not a “temporary aberration” of an otherwise virtuous man.

“You see someone who doesn’t learn the lesson,” Thomas said.

Hwang’s defense had asked for no prison time, which the judge said was “ridiculous.”

In filings for the sentencing, Hwang’s lawyers focused on his Christian faith and life of service. They brought up his philanthropy to 450 organizations through the Grace & Mercy Foundation as well as his devotion to his family.

The filings talked about his humble beginnings as a Korean immigrant to the US, working at a McDonald’s. They mentioned how he learned about faith and service from his pastor father and missionary mother and how he helped his legally blind brother.

But the judge said Hwang’s good works were “not balanced” with the severity of the crime he committed, which made a “wreckage of individual lives who trusted Mr. Hwang.”

“Why do good people do bad things?” Hellerstein asked at the hearing packed with Hwang’s friends and family. “Here’s a man spending a lifetime on charitable works who commits a terrible crime.”

In his first comments on the case, Hwang gave a short statement at the hearing, apologizing to those he hurt without admitting to guilt. His lawyers indicated that he plans to appeal his conviction.

“I feel really terrible for what happened at Archegos,” Hwang said. “I feel deep pain for all Archegos employees, the banks, and people who worked at the banks and suffered.”

Addressing the judge, Hwang said he hoped his sentence “will allow me to serve as much as I can, given the circumstances.” He added that he is “grateful to God for so many blessings I’ve had in my life,” mentioning his family.

Friends and family of Hwang’s submitted more than 500 pages of letters of support, forming a large book that the judge held up in the hearing, saying, “Your book of letters are a strong advocate for the kind of person and character that you have.” Many of the letters came from Hwang’s Christian friends and other leaders, as well as Grace & Mercy employees.

Among the dozens of leaders of Christian ministries submitting letters was the recently retired president of Fuller Theological Seminary Mark Labberton, who mentioned Hwang’s generosity to the school as well as his service on the board. Several other Fuller trustees wrote in support too.

Hwang’s pastor in New Jersey contributed, as well as Wall Street investors and an Orthodox priest who all met Hwang through one of his main initiatives, the Public Reading of Scripture.

Letters also came from the former head of The Bowery Mission, Ed Morgan; the founder of prison ministry Defy Ventures, Catherine Jackson; the head of Defending Black Girlhood, Lilada Gee; and the CEO of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), Hannah Song—all organizations supported by Hwang. Kevin Palau, son of evangelist Luis Palau and now the leader of the Luis Palau Association, also wrote in support.

As during his trial, Hwang read a devotional at different points during the day-long hearing.

“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 lawyers wrote in a pre-sentencing memo. “He has always lived a modest lifestyle,” they added, saying he shops at outlet malls.

The judge questioned this narrative of Hwang’s thriftiness, noting that Hwang had rented out an apartment in the ritzy Hudson Yards development in Manhattan for the trial. In filings, Hwang’s lawyers said he now has $55 million left of his billions.

The prosecution also raised issues with Hwang’s use of his foundation, Grace & Mercy, which he has given $600 million according to defense filings.

Thomas said after Archegos’s collapse, Hwang gave Grace & Mercy jobs to many of the company’s top lieutenants. “People who might testify against him,” said Hellerstein, finishing the prosecution’s thought.

Defense attorney Dani James countered that Hwang also gave low-level Archegos employees jobs at Grace & Mercy—arguing he was helping people rather than scheming to protect himself.

Hellerstein also said that banks were clearly greedy to enjoy profits from Archegos by lending billions, but “when you cheat a fool, it’s nevertheless cheating.”

Each of the ten guilty counts carried a maximum 20-year sentence, meaning Hwang faced the possibility of 200 years. Prosecutors asked for a 21-year sentence, saying that took into account Hwang’s “age and good works in his life.”

Hellerstein sentenced him to 18 years, plus 3 years of supervised release. Hwang was not immediately taken into custody; the judge set an additional hearing for December to determine possible forfeiture and restitution to injured parties.

“There’s nothing more difficult than sentencing. … How do you measure a person’s life?” Hellerstein wondered aloud in the sentencing. “A sentence has to take into account the good and the bad, and it can’t be done. … Yet we have to do it.”

Hellerstein, who is Jewish, quoted Psalm 82, about God judging “among those who administer judgment,” and said he would be held accountable for his work as a judge.

He told Hwang he knew that relationship to God was important to him as a religious man, but so is “man to fellow man.” Though the victims in this case “were institutions, they were also fellow people,” he said. The heavy sentence, he added, was a “symbol to others that if you don’t live by the law, you could be punished very severely by the law.”