Former FTX executive Nishad Singh spared prison for cooperation
Al Jazeera
Singh had testified as a prosecution witness in the trial that led to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s conviction.
Former cryptocurrency executive Nishad Singh, who once shared a $35m Bahamas penthouse with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has been spared prison time by a judge for his role in the theft by his imprisoned former boss of about $8bn in customer funds from the now-bankrupt exchange.
During a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan imposed no prison time, but ordered three years of supervised release. Kaplan credited Singh for cooperating with prosecutors and coming clean about his actions in what they have called one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.
Singh, who had pleaded guilty to six felony counts of fraud and conspiracy, testified last year as a prosecution witness in the trial that led to Bankman-Fried’s conviction on fraud and other charges. Singh, in a plea deal with prosecutors, admitted to his role in the fraud and for serving as a “straw donor” in some of Bankman-Fried’s millions of dollars in political donations.
“I am overwhelmed with remorse for the harm that I participated in and that I caused to so many innocent people,” Singh told the judge at the hearing. “I strayed so far from my values.”
Prosecutors had urged leniency for the 29-year-old Singh, FTX’s former chief engineer, in light of his cooperation. His defence lawyers recommended he serve no prison time.
