Singh would be the latest member of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to plead guilty to US criminal charges over his role in alleged fraud that caused FTX’s collapse. Two other top execs at FTX, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, pleaded guilty last year. This could further isolate SBF, who pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and faces a hefty prison sentence if convicted. Loading Something is loading.
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Former FTX executive Nishad Singh will plead guilty over his role in the alleged fraud scheme that caused the cryptocurrency exchange to collapse, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The 27-year-old has been working to strike a plea deal with New York prosecutors as they file charges of fraud against him, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal is yet to be finalized, the report said.
As director of engineering, Singh would be the latest member of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to plead guilty to US criminal charges over his role in the collapse. Two other former top executives at the exchange, FTX c0-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, struck plea deals last year and are working with prosecutors.
The plea deal – which could involve cooperating with authorities – would further isolate the exchange’s disgraced founder Bankman-Fried who pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and faces a hefty sentence in prison if convicted. He could still potentially reach a deal with prosecutors ahead of his trial scheduled for October.
Singh is also facing potential charges from top US market regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Bloomberg reported.
Singh could offer insight into the campaign finance side of the firm, if he were to cooperate with authorities through the agreement, Bloomberg said, noting that was an area the government had been probing.
He was reportedly one of few people who knew that FTX was misusing customer funds, along with Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and Wang. He had a 7.8% stake in FTX and previously received a $543 million personal loan from Alameda, according to bankruptcy filings.