Nishad Singh, a former executive at bankrupt Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX.com, may plead guilty to fraud charges for his involvement in the company’s last November, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
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Fast facts
- Singh is reportedly negotiating a deal with Manhattan prosecutors in the case, according to unnamed sources familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodities and Futures Trading Commission are reportedly considering pressing additional charges against Singh for involvement with FTX.
- Singh can place additional pressure on former FTX chief executive and founder Sam Bankman-Fried by accepting the deal with the prosecutors. Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to an eight-charge indictment related to the bankrupt exchange.
- Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Dec. 12 at the request of U.S. authorities, who accuse him of fraud. He is currently under house arrest at his parents’ residency in California, with his first trial date set for Oct. 2, 2023.
- FTX co-founder Gary Wang and the former CEO of FTX’s sister trading firm Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, have pleaded guilty to related charges for their involvement in the firm’s collapse.
- Singh was the former head of engineering at FTX after joining Alameda in 2017. He reportedly had a close relationship with Bankman-Fried as his housemate at a Bahamans penthouse.
- Singh received a US$543 million personal loan from Alameda Research, according to filings from the FTX bankruptcy estate, now headed by John J. Ray III.
See related article: Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud charges in FTX exchange collapse