Former FTX executive Nishad Singh reportedly plans to plead guilty

• Former FTX executive Nishad Singh is reportedly planning to plead guilty to criminal charges.
• Singh may face separate charges filed by the SEC and CFTC.

Nishad Singh, the former head of engineering at the collapsed exchange FTX, is reportedly planning to plead guilty to criminal charges brought by the United States Department of Justice.

The deal has not been finalized yet. 

Nishad Singh is negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors

According to a report by Bloomberg, Nishad Singh has been working out the details of his plea deal with prosecutors ahead of the filing of fraud charges by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

While the terms of the agreement haven’t been disclosed yet, a deal like this would likely involve cooperation with the prosecutors in their investigation and a potential testimony against former boss Sam Bankman-Fried. 

If accepted, the plea deal would make Nishad Singh the latest FTX executive to join hands with the prosecutors overseeing the legal actions against the bankrupt exchange.

Singh would join the likes of Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and fellow FTX co-founder Gary Wang. Both these executives pleaded guilty to multiple charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

The analysis

People familiar with the matter revealed that multiple U.S. regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities and Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC), are also planning to sue Singh for his role in alleged fraud at FTX.

Singh played a key role in the day-to-day operation of the crypto exchange and was a close confidant of former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. He reportedly met with prosecutors last month. 

However, Singh’s legal troubles may not end with the current plea deal. He was subpoenaed earlier this week in a class action lawsuit filed by FTX investors against several of the exchange’s backers including venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and private equity firm Paradigm.

The former executive may also be subject to campaign finance violations, given that he donated over $9 million to U.S. Democratic candidates since 2020.