Ex-FTX executive spared prison sentence after cooperating against Sam Bankman-Fried
An ex-FTX executive who testified against the cryptocurrency firm's founder at his trial last year has been spared a prison sentence
NEW YORK — An ex-FTX executive who testified against the cryptocurrency firm’s founder at his trial last year was spared a prison sentence Wednesday by a federal judge who credited his substantial cooperation and late arrival in the multibillion dollar fraud.
Nishad Singh, the company’s former engineering director, was sentenced in Manhattan by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who said his cooperation was “remarkable.”
The judge noted that Singh did not learn of the billions of dollars that were misappropriated from FTX customer accounts and investors until two months before the fraud unraveled.
FTX was one of the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, with celebrity endorsements and a 2022 Super Bowl advertisement before it collapsed into bankruptcy in November 2022. A month later, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where his companies were based, to face trial.
Singh, 29, testified a year ago at Bankman-Fried's trial, saying he was “blindsided and horrified” when he saw the extent of the fraud behind the once-celebrated and seemingly pioneering firm.
At sentencing, Singh said he was “overwhelmed with remorse” for his role in the fraud.
“I strayed so far from my values, and words can't express how sorry I am,” he said.
Bankman-Fried was convicted last November and is serving a 25-year sentence.
The sentencing came a month after Caroline Ellison, another key witness at Bankman-Fried's trial and a former top executive in his cryptocurrency empire, was sentenced to two years in prison. At the time, Kaplan praised her cooperation but said it wasn't a
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