FTX former lead engineer in talks with federal prosecutors in Bankman-Fried case

As the investigation into FTX continues, the crypto exchange’s former engineering chief, Nishad Singh, followed former FTX and Alameda Research executives Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison by reportedly meeting with federal prosecutors to cut a deal.

Singh attended a proffer session during the week of Jan. 2 at the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Individuals may be granted limited immunity to share their knowledge with prosecutors at such meetings. Prosecutors likely sought to determine if Singh has valuable information to offer in the lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a Jan. 10 Bloomberg report.

Bankman-Fried also faces campaign finance violations and prosecutors are interested in Singh’s knowledge about FTX’s political donations.

Singh made significant political donations over the years and could help prosecutors gain a better understanding of FTX’s political activities.

His cooperation could lead to him entering a plea deal if his information is determined to be valuable.

Singh could join Wang and Ellison as the latest FTX-linked executive to reach an agreement with federal prosecutors.

After Wang and Ellison entered pleas, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams issued a warning in December 2022 to those who participated in the misconduct at FTX and Alameda, saying, “come see us before we come to see you.”

It was reported on Jan. 5 that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Singh for potentially having a role in defrauding FTX investors and users.

Related: FTX collapse may boost ‘further trust’ in crypto ecosystem — Nomura exec

This comes after news in December 2022 that politicians and news organizations reportedly planned to return $6.6 million in donations from FTX, with three prominent Democratic groups having decided to return over $1 million to investors that had lost funds.

In a November 2022 filing, it was revealed that Alameda loaned $543 million to Singh, one of three related party loans given by the trading firm. The filing also revealed a $1 billion loan to Bankman-Fried and $55 million to the then FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame.