NEW YORK – Nishad Singh, former director of engineering at FTX and a one-time member of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, was sentenced to time served by a federal judge on Wednesday, meaning he's not going to prison like his former colleagues.
Singh, 29, who pleaded guilty to six criminal counts including wire fraud and conspiracy last February, is the fourth FTX executive to be sentenced for his role in the fraud. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March for his role as ringleader. Former FTX Digital Markets CEO Ryan Salame, who did not testify against Bankman-Fried, recently began serving his 7.5 year prison sentence. And Caroline Ellison, former Alameda Research CEO and one-time girlfriend of Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to two years last month – her sentence heavily discounted by her prompt and extensive cooperation with prosecutors.
Wednesday's sentence is surely welcome news to Singh and his legal team, who requested that the former FTX executive serve no prison time. In a court filing earlier this month, Singh’s lawyers urged the court to consider his “limited” involvement in the scheme, as well as his cooperation with the prosecutions of Bankman-Fried and Salame. The filing described him as an “uncommonly selfless individual” and attached more than 100 letters from friends and family.
While Singh did eventually cooperate with the prosecution – as well as the FTX bankruptcy estate, as highlighted in an Oct. 29 letter from current FTX CEO John J. Ray III to the court – including testifying against his childhood-friend in Bankman-Fried’s trial last October, he admitted he knew of the $8 billion hole in FTX’s balance sheet by September 2022, two months before the exchange collapsed.