Summary:
- Nishad Singh who served as FTX’s former director of engineering agreed to plead guilty to U.S. criminal charges on Tuesday.
- Reuters reported that Singh will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of wire fraud.
- Other former employees like ex-Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX’s former CTO Gary Wang also pleaded guilty to criminal charges in December.
- Disgraced Founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to over eight charges of fraud and money laundering.
Nishad Singh who served as FTX’s former director of engineering agreed to plead guilty to U.S. criminal charges on Tuesday. Singh’s lawyer told a manhattan court that the former lead engineer was ready to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of wire fraud, Reuters reported.
The guilty plea comes after Singh engaged with federal prosecutors from the South District of New York (SDNY) and discussed a possible deal during a proffer session in early January 2023. Proffer sessions are used to weigh the value of evidence a potential witness might have.
In 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Gary Gensler filed civil charges alleging that Singh exempted Alameda Research from the liquidation engine at FTX. This essentially gave “Alameda Research an unlimited line of credit” on the platform, the SEC said.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed similar charges suggesting that Singh helped to hide Alameda’s hundreds of millions in debt on the crypto exchange.
FTX Execs Plead Guilty
Other former players in FTX have also cooperated with investigators. Ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges including fraud. Former FTX CTO Gary Wang who controlled Emergent Fidelity Technologies with Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded guilty to four U.S. criminal charges. Wang allegedly donated millions of dollars of customer funds to political candidates and parties as well.
Former chief regulatory officer Daniel Friedberg spoke with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice, and SDNY prosecutors about how Bankman-Fried’s empire operated. Friedberg talked with authorities shortly after the crypto exchange declared bankruptcy in November 2022.
Founder of bankruptcy crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges including fraud and money laundering. The former crypto tycoon was slammed with four new criminal charges including unlawful political contribution.
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The former Chief Engineer of FTX Inc., Nishad Singh, recently pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud charges. Singh was originally charged in August 2020 with one count of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Singh was accused of defrauding the company out of more than $2.3 million by making false representations to his employer about his abilities and qualifications. According to the indictment, Singh also utilized stolen funds to travel, purchase luxury items and pay for personal expenses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Singh’s actions were particularly egregious because he was an employee in a trusted position and he violated that trust. It was also noted that the defendant deceived his employer, resulting in the company incurring a substantial financial loss.
In addition to the fraud charges, Singh also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. The U.S. Attorney alleged that the defendant had electronically transferred stolen proceeds to his bank accounts in India with the intent to defraud and conceal the source of funds.
Singh is due to be sentenced on July 30 and faces a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution of the $2.3 million to FTX Inc.
