Former FTX Engineering Director Nishad Singh Pleads Guilty to US Criminal Charges

Nishad Singh, former FTX Engineering Director, pleaded guilty to six US federal criminal charges on Tuesday, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors' investigation into SBF.

Singh said he knew by mid-2022 that Alameda Research was borrowing FTX customer funds, and customers were not aware. His lawyers said in a statement, "Nishad is deeply sorry for his role in this and has accepted responsibility for his actions. He wants to do everything he can to make things right for victims, including by assisting the government to the best of his ability in this case."

After Singh's plea, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged him with fraud allegations. In a statement, SEC Director of Enforcement Gurbir Grewal said, "We allege that this was fraud, pure and simple: While on the one hand FTX touted its supposed effective risk mitigation measures to investors, on the other Mr.Singh and his co-defendants were stealing customer funds using software code Mr.Singh helped create."

Singh is the third ex-FTX executive to plead guilty and cooperate with the probe. Last December, FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison both pleaded guilty to federal charges. SBF himself pleaded not guilty to 12 criminal charges.