Ex-FTX Executive Nishad Singh Nears Plea Deal; Could Drive The Final Nail In The Coffin For SBF

Nishad Singh, the former FTX head of engineering and one of the people in Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle, is reportedly hammering a plea deal with the federal prosecutors' office in New York to the criminal charges on his role in the fraud and collapse of the fallen crypto empire.

Singh was the former director of engineering at FTX and is one of the few people who lived with the disgraced former FTX CEO and founder Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, in his penthouse in the Bahamas.

The 27-year-old crypto billionaire has been working with Manhattan prosecutors as they are preparing to file fraud charges against him, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Singh's deal with prosecutors could involve cooperation with authorities and could be crucial in prosecuting Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty to an eight-count indictment and is currently awaiting trial.

Unfortunately, the report said that the supposed deal with the former FTX head of engineering is yet to be finalized.

Singh, considered one of Bankman-Fried's lieutenants along with Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, helped write the code that FTX used to exchange currency and was hands-on in the daily operations of the fallen crypto empire.

Like his colleague and friend Bankman-fried, Singh is also a major political donor, and with his knowledge of the inner workings of the crypto empire and Bankman-Fried, prosecutors hoped that he could provide information on the alleged secret donation scheme of the former FTX CEO to give funds to political candidates.

Since 2020, the University of California at Berkeley graduate has donated approximately $9.3 million to initiatives linked to the Democratic Party.

Singh also donated $1 million to the political action committee Mind The Gap, an organization founded by Barbara Helen Fried, an American lawyer and mother of the controversial FTX founder.

With the unraveling of FTX following its collapse, it was revealed that Singh, who had a 7.8% stake in the company, including in FTX US, received $543 million in loans from the now-bankrupt crypto hedge fund Alameda Research, the company founded by Bankman-Fried and run by his supposed former lover Ellison.

This information was included in the filings made by the FTX bankruptcy estate headed by its new CEO John Jay Ray III.

Singh is reportedly facing civil charges filed by American financial regulators Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for his role in the alleged FTX fraud.

Bankman-Fried, Wang, Ellison and Singh, who are passionate supporters of effective altruism, are also the people sitting on the board of the FTX Foundation.

Interestingly, while Singh's coordination with the prosecutors filled the internet, Bankman-Fried and his legal team were busy at the court where they defended the disgraced crypto mogul over possible bail condition violation for using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to watch the Super Bowl, which he can watch without using a VPN since it was broadcasted for free.