Writer: Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former cryptocurrency govt Nishad Singh will likely be sentenced on Wednesday for his function within the theft of about $8 billion in buyer funds from the now-bankrupt FTX trade by his jailed former boss Sam Bankman-Fried.
Singh, who pleaded responsible to 6 counts of fraud and conspiracy, testified as a prosecution witness final yr within the trial that led to Bankman-Fried's conviction on fraud and different fees. In a plea cope with prosecutors, Singh admitted to his function in what they name one of many largest monetary frauds in US historical past and to performing as a “straw donor” in a few of the hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in political donations from Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried, 32, is serving a 25-year sentence on the Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn following the collapse of the FTX trade he based in November 2022.
Singh, 29, is a former chief engineer of FTX. He’s anticipated to obtain a a lot lesser sentence from US District Choose Lewis Kaplan throughout a listening to scheduled for 3:00 PM ET (1900 GMT) in federal court docket in Manhattan. Prosecutors urged leniency, whereas Singh's legal professionals advisable he serve no jail time.
“Singh has supplied substantial help to the federal government in investigating and prosecuting perpetrators and in recovering property from victims,” the U.S. lawyer's workplace in Manhattan wrote in an Oct. 23 court docket submitting.
Kaplan final month sentenced Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried's former girlfriend and supervisor of FTX's sister hedge fund Alameda Analysis, to 2 years in jail. The decide praised her cooperation however mentioned such assist couldn’t be a “get out of jail free card” in a case as critical as this.
Singh's legal professionals wrote in an Oct. 16 court docket submitting that he joined the conspiracy comparatively late, after Bankman-Fried and Ellison had already determined to make use of billions of {dollars} in FTX buyer funds to cowl Alameda losses.
Bankman-Fried noticed a growth in cryptocurrency costs in the course of the COVID pandemic for a web value of $26 billion by October 2021, in response to Forbes journal. He gained prominence as a prolific donor to philanthropic causes and Democratic politicians.
His fortune evaporated when FTX collapsed amid a flurry of buyer withdrawals.
Singh testified in the course of the trial that he confronted Bankman-Fried in regards to the large lack of buyer funds throughout an hour-long dialog in September 2022 on the balcony of the $35 million Bahamian penthouse they shared. Singh mentioned Bankman-Fried assured him it might increase extra funding and minimize prices.
Bankman-Fried is interesting his conviction and sentence, arguing that Kaplan improperly excluded proof that confirmed he thought FTX had enough funds to cowl buyer withdrawals.
Gary Wang, the third former FTX govt who cooperated with prosecutors, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 20.
