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.

Singh, 29, testified a year ago at FTX founder Sam 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.

Prior to Singh's sentence being announced, defense attorney Andrew Goldstein urged no prison time for his client, saying Singh did not know about the billions of dollars stolen from customers and investors until two months before FTX collapsed into bankruptcy in November 2022, just weeks before key executives were arrested.

Goldstein, a former longtime federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said leniency would encourage future cooperators in other criminal cases to come forward.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos credited Singh with providing information within weeks of the fraud being publicly revealed, saying he helped prosecutors learn about crimes they might otherwise have never discovered, including his own.

Roos said, for instance, that Singh told prosecutors about campaign finance violations that occurred as FTX executives made tens of millions of dollars in donations to political candidates.

The prosecutor also said Singh revealed private conversations with Bankman-Fried that strengthened the government's case and enabled it to bring charges more quickly against multiple people.

Singh gave prosecutors “documentary evidence the government did not have and likely never would have had,” Roos said.