Former FTX exec will plead guilty to federal charges with a deal: Report

Nishad Singh, co-founder and former chief engineer of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, is working on a plea deal with prosecutors, Bloomberg reported on February 17. related to the collapse of FTX, which has not yet been completed, said the report.

Singh will follow former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in December after reaching a deal with prosecutors. Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight federal charges and now lives with his parents in California.

Singh, a childhood friend of SBF’s brother Gabriel, the author of some FTX software and one of the roommates in SBF’s Bahamas penthouse. SBF told Vox reporters shortly after the FTX collapse that Singh was “scared” and “ashamed and guilty” over the event.

Singh remained the longest absentee among FTX leaders but reappeared in the first week of January for a proffer session at the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In proffer sessions, individuals may be granted limited immunity to share knowledge with prosecutors.

Related: FTX seeks to raise political donations at the end of February

Federal criminal charges are only part of Singh’s legal worries. Singh and the rest of FTX’s inner circle were subpoenaed on February 14 in a class-action suit against venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and private equity firms Thoma Bravo and Paradigm.

Ellison and Wang have settled cases brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but Singh may also be subject to actions by those agencies. Among the allegations against SBF are campaign finance violations. Singh is also a major contributor to US Democratic candidates and causes, reportedly donating $9.3 million since 2020.