Bloomberg reported that in an effort to seek a plea bargain, Nishad Singh – Former FTX engineering chief – held discussions with the U.S. federal prosecutors. In this case, he would be the third person from the company’s leadership team to work with the government.
It has been reported by TronWeekly previously that U.S. authorities, including the SEC and the CFTC, were investigating Singh, a former associate of SBF who once resided with him in a Bahamas penthouse.
This investigation was taken place as SBF himself faced criminal charges. The report suggests that federal prosecutors in Manhattan were investigating whether Singh was involved in any fraudulent activity aimed at defrauding investors and clients at FTX and Alameda Research.
Last week, FTX’s former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, pled not guilty to eight criminal counts, leaving them in a precarious position. On the other hand, Alameda Research’s CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have both admitted their guilt on fraud charges and are now collaborating with law enforcement. Should this Singh cooperation come to fruition, Bankman-Fried will be increasingly left in the dark.
Former FTX Engineering Chief Attend “Proffer Session”
According to Bloomberg’s latest report, a person familiar with the matter claimed that Singh participated in a proffer session last week at the Southern District of New York US Attorney’s Office. These types of meetings typically involve granting individuals a form of limited immunity in exchange for sharing information with prosecutors.
However, a proffer meeting alone does not guarantee a cooperation agreement. The prosecutors must assess the significance of the information provided by Singh in determining whether to offer a plea deal for his cooperation in exchange for a potential reduction in sentence.
Both a representative for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Singh’s attorney, Andrew D. Goldstein, did not provide a comment to Bloomberg on the matter.
According to documents filed with the bankruptcy court, Singh also obtained loans from Alameda Research totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. However, Singh could potentially provide valuable information regarding FTX’s campaign financing activities.
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