Former FTX Exec to Plead Guilty to Federal Charges

Nishad Singh, the co-founder and former head engineer of the insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is reportedly negotiating a plea agreement with the prosecution. The agreement, according to a February 17-dated report by Bloomberg, would have the 27-year-old Singh admit wrongdoing in connection with the failure of FTX.

With this decision, Singh would be stepping into the footsteps of former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang, both of whom entered guilty pleas to federal fraud charges in December after agreements with prosecutors. 

Singh was Very Close to FTX Founder

Singh was one of the people that shared a room in SBF’s Bahamas penthouse and the creator of some of FTX’s software. Interestingly, soon after the FTX crash, Singh was described as being “scared,” “ashamed,” and “guilty” by SBF to a Vox reporter.

He resurfaced during the first week of January for a proffer hearing at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York after his long disappearance. An individual may receive a limited immunity during a proffer session in exchange for providing information to prosecutors.

On February 14, Singh and other members of the FTX inner circle were served with court orders in a class action lawsuit against the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and private equity firms Thoma Bravo and Paradigm.

Moreover, Gabriel, the brother of SBF, and Singh were longtime friends. About the former CEO of the insolvent company, Bankman-Fried, who was held in the Bahamas, where FTX is established, was extradited to the United States. In addition to two counts of wire fraud, he is charged with six counts of conspiracy, including scheming to violate campaign finance laws and launder money.

He was then granted a $250 million bail bond and is currently being kept in his parents’ California house under electronic surveillance. If proven guilty on every charge, he could spend more than a century in prison.