Nishad Singh, former chief engineer at cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is going down in the history books as the first accused criminal who is getting away scot free with no prison time from case as big as the FTX case.
During the hearing in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan has imposed no prison time to Singh, but ordered a three years of supervised release.
Singh's lawyers pleading for a lighter sentence based on remorse and minimum participation?
Last week, Nishad's lawyers were trying to ask for leniency from the judge based on his client's behaviour. Singh's lawyers asked the judge to consider Singh's substantial assistance and exemplary cooperation in their investigation into FTX.
The lawyers also tried to argue that Singh had minimum participation in the whole scam, as he only joined the conspiracy in September 2022, two months prior before FTX went bust.
Many, including myself, thought that this excuse wouldn't warrant Singh any leniency, given Judge Kaplan's firm stance on Caroline Ellison who also tried to plead for minimum sentence based on participation.
Ellison's lawyers explained that their client has been cooperative throughout the whole investigation and has provided crucial information that has aided the police to crack the case. Based on this reason, Ellison's lawyers tried to push for a no prison sentence for their client.
But Judge Kaplan answered this request with a hard no. In in statement, Judge Lewis Kaplan praised Allison's cooperation and said that he cannot over state the importance of Ellison's testimony in convicting Bankman-fried, but he isn't comfortable with remorse and cooperation being a "get out of jail free card" in what he calls one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S history.
Going back on his word
Despite his harsh words, it seems that Judge Kaplan is going back on his words when it comes to Singh sentencing.
Similar to Ellison, Judge Kaplan praised Singh's deep remorse and stressed his level of involvement in the case (which was significantly less than Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison) as two of the main reasons why Singh was given no prison sentence.
He added that it could have been so easy for Singh to deny everything, but he turned himself in just to right a wrong, or at least start to make that effort and do the right thing.
Singh's lawyers also argued that nearly all billions of dollars in customer funds were stolen long before his client learned of the scheme.
This proves that the majority events that happen throughout the FTX case took place long before Nishad was even involved in the company. Singh's lawyers also argued that Bankman-Fried and Ellison were the two main masterminds who planned and orchestrated the entire heist.
Based on these reasons, Singh was rewarded with zero prison sentences.
Netizens not buying Singh's story
Of course, netizens are not buying this story. Many are asking "how could Singh not know about what was happening in the company and the fraudulent practices that were right under his nose?" All this seems a little too hard to believe.
Funny enough, there were also netizens who have showed sympathy for Sam Bankman-Fried, saying that he is the one carrying all the blame while people like Singh are getting away Scot free.
Gary Wang, a third former FTX executive who cooperated with prosecutors, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 30. Who knows what kind of sentencing he would get....
Hui Xin
Aaron
Joy
YouQuan
Brian
Alex