SBF stole nothing meaningful from anyone powerful.
Who is “them”? There is no serious power embarrassed by FTX. The seriously powerful never got close enough to be tarnished.
Powerful people are acting quickly to publicly distance themselves from him.
The point being they’re making and keeping that distance. This conspiracy theory, that SBF is facing consequences only because he sort of maybe embarrassed Ricchetti, has no legs to stand on.
> only when you steal from the powerful that the wheels of justice turn so swiftly
Not:
> only when you steal from the powerful that the wheels of justice turn [at all]
And certainly not:
> SBF is facing consequences only because ...
To the degree powerful people were embarrassed by him, it was in the Bahamas. Not here. Not at all.
And that (even if only because of the negative coverage) powerful people are taking steps (like returning millions of dollars) to distance themselves from him.
And finally that, whether it's the motive or not, swift prosecution is an effective way for officials to distance themselves.
The rest is speculation, but not crazy.
Someone else said the problem was that SBF stole from his customers. And while it’s true that this is often sufficient to bring you down, it’s often only when you steal from the powerful that the wheels of justice turn so swiftly. He’s being made an example.