Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering at now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has pleaded guilty to US criminal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Singh, 27, admitted to one count of wire fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by violating campaign finance laws.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Singh expressed his remorse for his role in the scheme, saying he knew by mid-2022 that Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research, was borrowing FTX customer funds without customers being aware. He also agreed to forfeit proceeds from the scheme.
Bankman-Fried, 30, has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges filed against him in December. Prosecutors allege he stole billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda. He has acknowledged inadequate risk management but denies stealing the money.
Singh is the third close associate of Bankman-Fried to plead guilty and cooperate with the inquiry. Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s former CEO, and Gary Wang, FTX’s former CTO, both pleaded guilty in December to seven and four criminal charges respectively. Singh’s lawyers stated that he wishes to do everything he can to make things right for victims, including assisting the government.
Separately on Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed civil lawsuits against Singh.
The new charges filed against Bankman-Fried last week allege that he conspired with two other former FTX executives to donate tens of millions of dollars to influence lawmakers to pass legislation favourable to the company. These donations were illegal as they were made with “straw” donors or corporate funds.
Records from the Federal Election Commission show that Singh contributed $1.1m on July 7, 2022, to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. He admitted in court that he agreed in 2022 to make political donations in his own name that were funded in part by transfers from Alameda without providing details of the donations. He said that while he agreed with the political leanings of those he donated to, he did not select the candidates.
Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, commented on Singh’s guilty plea, saying it “underscores once again that the crimes at FTX were vast in scope and consequence”. He added that they “rocked our financial markets with a multibillion-dollar fraud” and “corrupted our politics with tens of millions of dollars in illegal straw campaign contributions”.
Nishad Singh, a former director of engineering at now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has pleaded guilty to US criminal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The 27-year-old admitted to one count of wire fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by violating campaign finance laws.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Singh expressed his remorse for his role in the scheme, saying he knew by mid-2022 that Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research, was borrowing FTX customer funds without customers being aware. He also agreed to forfeit proceeds from the scheme and was released on $250,000 bond.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges filed against him in December. Prosecutors allege he stole billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda. He has acknowledged inadequate risk management but denies stealing the money.
Singh is the third close associate of Bankman-Fried to plead guilty and cooperate with the inquiry. Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s former CEO, and Gary Wang, FTX’s former CTO, both pleaded guilty in December to seven and four criminal charges respectively. Singh’s lawyers stated that he wishes to do everything he can to make things right for victims, including assisting the government.
Separately on Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed civil lawsuits against Singh. The new charges filed against Bankman-Fried last week allege that he conspired with two other former FTX executives to donate tens of millions of dollars to influence lawmakers to pass legislation favourable to the company. These donations were illegal as they were made with “straw” donors or corporate funds.
Records from the Federal Election Commission show that Singh contributed $1.1m on July 7, 2022, to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. He admitted in court that he agreed in 2022 to make political donations in his own name that were funded in part by transfers from Alameda without providing details of the donations. He said that while he agreed with the political leanings of those he donated to, he did not select the candidates.
Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, commented on Singh’s guilty plea, saying it “underscores once again that the crimes at FTX were vast in scope and consequence”. He added that they “rocked our financial markets with a multibillion-dollar fraud” and “corrupted our politics with tens of millions of dollars in illegal straw campaign contributions”.
Nishad Singh has accepted responsibility for his role in the fraudulent activities at FTX and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating Sam Bankman-Fried. The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by violating campaign finance laws.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Singh expressed his remorse for his role in the scheme and agreed to forfeit proceeds from it. He was released on $250,000 bond and will assist prosecutors in their investigation into Bankman-Fried’s alleged theft of billions of dollars from FTX customers.
Singh is the third close associate of Bankman-Fried to plead guilty and cooperate with the inquiry. Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang have both pleaded guilty in December to seven and four criminal charges respectively. Singh’s lawyers stated that he wishes to do everything he can to make things right for victims, including assisting the government.
Separately on Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed civil lawsuits against Singh. The new charges filed against Bankman-Fried last week allege that he conspired with two other former FTX executives to donate tens of millions of dollars to influence lawmakers to pass legislation favourable to the company using illegal “straw” donors or corporate funds.
Records from the Federal Election Commission show that Singh contributed $1.1m on July 7, 2022, to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. He admitted in court that he agreed in 2022 to make political donations funded by transfers from Alameda without providing details of them. However, he clarified that while he agreed with the political leanings of those he donated to, he did not select the candidates himself.
Damian Williams, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor commented on Singh’s guilty plea saying it “underscores once again that the crimes at FTX were vast in scope and consequence”. He added that they “rocked our financial markets with a multibillion-dollar fraud” and “corrupted our politics with tens of millions of dollars in illegal straw campaign contributions”.