Government prosecutors in the case against former FTX executive Nishad Singh have urged the sentencing judge to consider Singh’s “substantial assistance” and “exemplary cooperation” in their investigation into FTX.
This might seem very familiar to you because this was the exact tactic that Caroline Ellison used in her sentencing, sadly to no avail.
But Nashad would succeed where Ellison failed, given how the circumstances and involvement of Nashad and Ellison varied so greatly. Would Nashad really be able to get off scot free?
Going down the same route as Ellison?
Similar to Ellison, Singh's lawyers are trying to ask for leniency based on his behaviour. But in the case of Ellison, the judge did not budge and imposed a two-year sentence on Ellison.
While the court did acknowledge Ellison's conduct and extensive cooperation throughout the investigation, it still imposed a term of incarceration in part to show that cooperation cannot be a get out of jail free card given the seriousness of her actions.
In a twisted and humourous way, this message seems so close to heart for Nashad, who is currently trying to get away with a lighter sentence for his crime.
But there are also differences in both the cases... For example, Singh's role in the FTX scandal was minimal. Who knows, maybe this could warrant him for a lighter punishment compared to his companions?
Singh's role in decoding the FTX fraud
Singh played a crucial role in helping the authorities decode how FTX’s code allowed for the illegal use of customer funds and provided detailed information on transactions involving stolen money, orchestrated by Sam Bankman-Fried.
Prosecutors also noted that Singh revealed criminal activities previously unknown to the government,and would never would have been discovered if not for Singh's cooperation, including one of the largest campaign finance schemes involving Bankman-Fried and Ryan Salame, as well as instances where Bankman-Fried manipulated FTX’s financial records to inflate its revenue.
Singh, who previously served as FTX’s head of engineering, pleaded guilty to six criminal charges, including fraud and conspiracy, in February 2023, related to the exchange’s collapse in November 2022.
Nishad Singh's lawyers tried to file a request with the U.S Southern District of New York, seeking no prison time for their client, citing his “uncommonly selfless individual” who hasd a very limited role in the whole fraud case while re-emphasizing again and again his cooperation with authorities.
The lawyers also emphasized that Singh only became part of the conspiracy involving FTX customer funds in September 2022, just two months before the exchange's collapse.
What happened to the rest of the FTX gang
Singh is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct.30.
Singh, along with FTX’s former chief technology officer Gary Wang, is awaiting sentencing. Sam Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence in March after being convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, was sentenced to two years last month after pleading guilty to the same charges. Ryan Salame, CEO of FTX Digital Markets, began serving a 7.5-year sentence this month after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission.
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