YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – Sources report FTX’s Former Engineering Chief Nishad Singh, another one of Sam Bankman-Fried’s former friends and roommates, allegedly engaged with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, hoping to get a plea agreement with the government.
Nishad Singh ready to negotiate with the Feds
Singh is said to have attended a so-called proffer session, which entails a limited immunity against sharing what they know with the prosecution. Notably, a proffer session does not necessarily result in an agreement. The latter depends, among other things, on the validity of the given information and its value to the court.
Meanwhile, Singh was a Democrat campaign mega-donor alongside SBF. He has given more than $9.3 million to Democratic candidates and committees since 2020. In the last election cycle alone, he shelled out $8 million. Per Bloomberg, according to the bankruptcy court filing, Singh also received “hundreds of millions of dollars” in loans from Alameda Research.
Additionally, Singh lived with the former FTX CEO in the Bahamas and allegedly has an abundance of inside information on the infamous executive. Should he sign an agreement with the Feds, SBF, who pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges, would be left increasingly isolated.
The engineering chief’s plea agreement would come after two other SBF associates.
As CoinChapter reported previously, Singh is not the first FTX exec to seek a plea deal with the prosecution. Former Alameda Research CEO and SBF’s girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, entered a plea deal with the Office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York in late December.
Ellison, a key witness in the ongoing FTX investigation, might evade all the seven counts of allegations against her. The prosecutors would only try 28-year-old Ellison for criminal tax violations as part of the plea deal. The plea deal would also help the former Alameda CEO avoid up to 110 years sentence.
The FTX co-founder Gary Wang also signed an agreement with the prosecution after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Will Singh evade a jail sentence?
Moreover, on Dec 21, US Attorney Damian Williams issued a “stern warning” to those who prosecutors had not yet heard from. “If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it. We are moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal,” asserted the official.
former Manhattan prosecutor Sarah Paul also noted that not all case participants can cut a deal.
The first person in the door is often going to have a much greater chance of being accepted as a cooperator because there will usually be a greater need for their testimony.
commented Paul.
Thus, Singh makes the third FTX exec to face fraud charges. Notably, he has NOT signed any plea with the prosecution just yet. However, as a person in possession of inside information on SBF, he could prove instrumental for the prosecution.
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