Former FTX head of engineering, Nishad Singh pleads guilty in billion dollar fraud case

The former head of engineering at Sam Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt cryptocurrency firm owned up to fraud charges on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said.

Nishad Singh, 27, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to wire fraud, conspiracy to commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions, and defrauding the Federal Election Commission and other related charges.

“Today’s guilty plea underscores once again that the crimes at FTX were vast in scope and consequence. They rocked our financial markets with a multibillion dollar fraud,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian William said.

“And they corrupted our politics with tens of millions of dollars in illegal straw campaign contributions. These crimes demand swift and certain justice and that is exactly what we are seeking in the Southern District of New York.”

Singh’s lawyers, Russell Capone and Andrew Goldstein, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Bankman-Fried, 30, has been charged in a 12-count indictment alleging he stole billions from investors of his trading platform FTX to divert to his crypto hedge fund Alameda, conspired to defraud banks, pumped millions in masked donations into the political system for personal gain, and other related charges.

Singh is the third of Bankman-Fried’s former executives and inner circle to cop to criminal charges in the case. In December, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Research and his one-time girlfriend, pleaded guilty to seven charges, and Gary Wang, a co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty to four charges. Both are cooperating.

Singh faces a possible 75-year prison sentence, authorities said.

A spokesman for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.