Nishad Singh, former FTX engineering director, has pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud and has brought further pressure against Sam Bankman-Fried. The executive was part of the closest circle of the former CEO of exchange of cryptocurrencies, but now it can turn against you. It is that, after all, everything indicates that he will begin to collaborate with the justice of the United States.
As reported Reuters, Singh pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and three other counts of wire fraud, money laundering and violation of campaign finance laws. Thus, he joins Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, two other former Bankman-Fried stockholders, who pleaded guilty to similar charges last December. The latter today help prosecutors in the pre-trial investigation that will begin in October.
Having FTX’s former engineering director plead guilty puts SBF in an even more awkward position than it is today. Nishad Singh has been credited as the author of the software that allowed Alameda Research to taking billions of dollars from FTX clients without permission. Movements that were not recorded in the records visible by the employees of the exchange.
But that is not all. He was also in charge of modifying the FTX systems to avoid automatic settlement of the assets that Alameda Research left as collateral in its “legitimate” loans. From the beginning it was said that these practices were known only to a small group of executives —Wang, Ellison and Singh himself—, under the direct direction of Sam Bankman-Fried.
Another FTX executive who admits his guilt
With his most faithful sides assuming his guilt and collaborating with the prosecution in search of lighter sentences, Sam Bankman-Fried’s innocence arguments are getting weaker. Let’s remember that the former CEO of FTX maintains that he never tried to defraud his company’s customers. Despite this, the evidence against him seems to grow bigger every day.
A few days ago, the United States Justice expanded the accusations against the young businessman. SBF faces 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy which, if convicted, would carry a sentence of more than 150 years in prison.
In the case of Nishad Singh, there has been no mention of how much jail time his guilt in the FTX debacle could earn him. However, seeing the situation of Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, it is not surprising that the former director of engineering intends to collaborate with the authorities to reduce your potential punishment.
The former CEO of Alameda Research pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, and would receive up to 110 years in prison. The co-founder and former technological leader of the cryptocurrency exchange did the same with four charges and is exposed to a sentence of up to 50 years.
To all this must be added that the main lawyer for Sam Bankman-Fried also turned against him. At the beginning of this year it was uploaded that Daniel Friedbergwho defended the businessman, denounced his actions and began collaborating with the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the SEC.
