> 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.

That's a strawman. The quote you disputed was:

> 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 ...

Sure, I’ll dispute that, too. Crypto is a hated industry. FTX blew up loudly, fascinatingly, and then SBF basically admitted guilt in multiple public forums. None of this went unexpectedly quickly. Many of the people proposing the current conspiracy were, weeks ago, claiming he would skate away free.

To the degree powerful people were embarrassed by him, it was in the Bahamas. Not here. Not at all.

I don't want to argue over the semantics of the word "embarrassed". Perhaps we can both agree that, whatever your (or their) personal feelings about the issue, it has objectively resulted in a lot of negative press coverage.

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.