- Nishad Singh was sentenced to three years in prison and supervised release.
- The judge noted that Singh’s involvement was limited compared to other FTX executives.
- Singh cooperated with prosecutors and helped with the investigation into the FTX collapse.
Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering at collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to prison and three years of supervised release in a New York federal court.
The decision follows Singh’s guilty plea to six felony charges related to user fund misuse and campaign finance violations he entered in February 2023.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Lewis Kaplan acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, saying, “This case may have been one of the greatest crimes in American history.”
Kaplan also noted that Singh’s involvement appears to have been limited compared to that of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, according to a report by Inner City Press.
Singh’s lawyer: Most of it was done by Sam and Caroline. Nishad did not know about it. Billions of dollars have been stolen before. It was Bankman-Fried that got Ellison’s consent to use $1 billion in client funds. Nishad was in the dark, not in the inner circle. he didn’t know
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 30, 2024
Singh expressed “overwhelming regret” for his actions and emphasized the weight of the decisions he made during a tumultuous time for FTX.
“Practical help”
Singh’s cooperation with federal prosecutors was instrumental in the outcome of his sentencing. He provided what U.S. prosecutors described as “significant assistance” in the ongoing investigation surrounding FTX’s collapse, which resulted in several indictments of former executives.
Singh’s lawyers argued for a lenient sentence, emphasizing that the fraud resulted primarily from the actions of Bankman-Fried and Ellison. The court also considered the views of new FTX CEO John Ray, who suggested that Singh’s skills could be more helpful in bankruptcy proceedings than serving time in prison.
Singh’s sentencing comes amid a widespread crackdown on FTX executives. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and Ellison is expected to surrender by November 7. A lawsuit was recently filed against KuCoin for over $50 million.
As the FTX story unfolds, Singh becomes the fourth former executive to be sentenced, with co-founder Gary Wang scheduled to appear in court on November 20.