Former FTX boss pleads guilty to charges related to the crypto exchange’s collapse
Tuesday 28 February 2023 at 18.30
Representations of cryptocurrencies appear in front of the displayed FTX logo.
ABCNews
Nishad Singh, former director of engineering at FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, agreed to plead guilty on Tuesday, according to his lawyers and federal prosecutors in New York.
Singh agreed to plead guilty to six counts of wire fraud and conspiracy in unsealed information Tuesday, becoming the third member of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle to plead guilty and cooperate with federal prosecutors as they build a case against those who believed responsible for the American lawyer Damian. Williams has called one of the biggest financial scams in American history.
“Today’s guilty plea underscores once again that the crimes at FTX were enormous in scope and consequence,” Williams said in a statement. “They rocked our financial markets with multibillion-dollar fraud. And they corrupted our politics with tens of millions of dollars in illegal straw campaign contributions. These crimes demand swift and certain justice, and that’s exactly what we seek in the Southern District of New York.”
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s privately held hedge fund, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, have also pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to assist the government’s prosecution. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal counts, and prosecutors recently added four more counts.
Singh contributed to the fraud that led to the $32 billion bankruptcy of FTX by providing “misleading information to auditors about FTX’s earnings,” knowing that the information would be provided to potential investors, according to the indictment.
Singh was also part of the conspiracy to make political contributions to candidates and committees that were paid to use funds from Bankman-Fried’s privately held hedge fund, Alameda Research, but reported to the Federal Election Commission under different names, the information said.
In exchange for his cooperation, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence below the 75-year limit associated with the charges, according to the plea agreement also unsealed Tuesday.
Prosecutors agreed to Singh’s release on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond.
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