Another member of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle allegedly plans to plead guilty to criminal charges for his role in the alleged fraud that occurred at the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. According to unnamed sources familiar with the matter, Nishad Singh, FTX’s former director of engineering, is attempting to negotiate a deal with New York prosecutors.
Sources Say Former FTX Director of Engineering Nears Plea Deal, Singh Could Provide Critical Testimony
On Friday, Bloomberg reporter Allyson Versprille reported that Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering at FTX, is negotiating a deal with federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Two other individuals from Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, ex-Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, have already pleaded guilty to charges related to the multiyear fraud that allegedly took place at FTX since 2019.
Unnamed sources who are familiar with the matter told Versprille about the agreement, and the reporter noted that the deal with Singh has not been finalized. The prosecutors’ office in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) declined to comment on the alleged deal, and Versprille also noted that a representative for Bankman-Fried declined to comment. If Singh does cooperate with authorities against Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO will be outnumbered, as Wang and Ellison are already cooperating with authorities.
Bankman-Fried is awaiting trial scheduled for October 3, 2023, and prosecutors have been attempting to restrict his use of specific types of electronic devices. The reason for the prosecutors’ action against the use of specific electronics is because Bankman-Fried was found to be using a VPN in January and February 2023. While the judge has limited the former FTX executive’s use of end-to-end encrypted messenger services such as Signal, a decision has not yet been made on restricting the use of other forms of electronics, such as VPNs.
Bankman-Fried is facing more than 100 years in prison for the crimes he is accused of, and he has pleaded not guilty to the eight charges. The FTX co-founder was indicted on Dec. 13, 2022, by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, and SDNY attorney Damian Williams stated that he was charged with “fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance offenses.” Singh played a crucial role in FTX’s engineering and infrastructure, and he was originally hired by Alameda Research in 2017. Two years later, Singh began working closely with Bankman-Fried and top lieutenants at FTX.
If Singh makes a deal and pleads guilty, he will be the third member of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to do so. It is unknown whether other FTX or Alameda employees are working with federal prosecutors. SDNY’s top prosecutor, Williams, has mentioned twice that if anyone has played a role in the FTX collapse and has not come forward, they should do so before the authorities come knocking on their door. “If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it,” Williams stressed after revealing that Wang and Ellison were both cooperating.
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