According to a Bloomberg report, Nishad Singh, the lead engineer for FTX and an associate of Sam Bankman-Fried, is the third person to meet with prosecutors.
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A former FTX engineering chief, Nishad Singh, met with federal prosecutors on Tuesday to discuss a cooperation deal in the fraud case over FTX’s collapse, in an attempt to become the third member of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle seeking a cooperative agreement.
As far as people familiar with the matter are aware, Singh, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, attended what is known as a proffer session last week at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Individuals, in such meetings, are usually given limited immunity from prosecution to share what they know with them during the meeting.
Singh is expected to cooperate in this case, so Bankman-Fried will likely find himself increasingly isolated if he enters into a cooperation deal. Caroline Ellison, who was the managing director of the hedge fund arm of FTX, Alameda Research, as well as Gary Wang, who was FTX’s cofounder, have both pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are cooperating with the authorities.
In addition to providing a window into FTX’s campaign finance side, Singh is also a mega-donor for the Democratic Party who lived in the Bahamas with Bankman-Fried. During the period between 2020 and 2022, he gave over $9.3 million to Democrats as well as Democratic committees.
The amount of money he spent solely on campaigning for the last election cycle amounted to $8 million. Singh presented a $1 million grant in April of 2021 to Mind The Gap, an organization founded by Bankman-Fried’s mother, and which was also among the largest recipients of the grant.
Alameda Research also loaned Singh hundreds of millions of dollars according to the bankruptcy court filings, according to allegations made by Singh.
There are also investigations underway by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission into Singh’s activities.
In addition to detailing, one’s conduct, the government expects potential witnesses to describe the conduct of others as well. It has been reported that former Manhattan federal prosecutors believe cooperating witnesses are usually required to plead guilty to all of their crimes as part of that office’s requirements.
With each passing day, the case against FTX and SBF becomes deeper and deeper. Increasing numbers of people are getting involved in the discussion of what SBF has done wrong, and how to fix it. As a result of this lawsuit, many more may come to court, and this is not a good sign for FTX, which has tried to regain traction in recent weeks.
