U.S. Judge Spares Ex-FTX Exec Nishad Singh From Jail; Here’s Why

United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan has ruled that Nishad Singh, a former chief engineer of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, will not serve jail time because he cooperated with prosecutors in the case brought against the company’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).

According to a Reuters report, Judge Kaplan imposed three years of supervised release on Singh. He applauded the former SBF deputy for working with prosecutors and admitting his role in the FTX scheme that defrauded users of nearly $8 billion in cryptocurrencies. 

Kaplan said Singh did the right thing by unburdening himself to authorities about his wrongdoings and that his involvement in the FTX fraud was less than that of SBF and his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, who also served as the CEO of FTX’s sister firm Alameda Research.

Singh Not Sentenced to Prison

During Singh’s Wednesday hearing in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors urged the judge to be lenient in his sentencing. Prosecutor Nicolas Roos cited Singh’s cooperation in the FTX case, insisting he deserved credit for revealing undocumented conversations about the fraud.

“It could have been very easy for Mr. Singh to have denied everything. He wanted to right a wrong, or at least start to make that effort and do the right thing,” Roos stated.

On the other hand, Singh’s lawyer, Andrew Goldstein, argued that his client should serve no jail term because he was unaware of the fraud until SBF and other executives had stolen billions of dollars in customer funds. 

“The overwhelming majority of the conduct that made it such a monumental crime took place before Nishad ever became involved. That was their crime. It was not Nishad’s crime,” Goldstein asserted.

Singh Shows Remorse

Singh, for his part, was remorseful for his role in the scheme. He confessed to hurting innocent people and straying from his values because he looked up to SBF, even after realizing the FTX founder was deceptive.

“I still have an enormous debt to society,” the former FTX executive added.

The 29-year-old former FTX engineering chief struck a plea deal with prosecutors in November 2022 while cooperating alongside other former executives, including Ellison and Gary Wang. The trio testified against SBF, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence, during his trial.

While Wang awaits his sentencing next month, Judge Kaplan imposed a two-year jail term on Ellison in September.