The trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) will begin in October this year. He faces charges of fraud and other financial offenses. It didn’t look rosy for SBF, but that is now a step up. A third member of SBF’s circle has pleaded guilty.
Sam Bankman-Fried the screwed up
Nishad Singh, a co-founder of FTX, has pleaded guilty and has decided to cooperate with prosecutors. On Tuesday, Singh pleaded guilty to six counts, including fraud, money laundering, and wrongful political donations.
A few weeks ago it was already read on Crypto Insiders that he was about to settle in exchange for a lesser sentence. Singh is the third SBF professional circle to plead guilty, and it may not stop there. According to a professor at St. John’s University, after the implosion of FTX, SBF’s legal house of cards also begins to collapse.
“The noose is getting tighter for SBF. This [Singh] is another senior official who has pleaded guilty and wants to testify against SBF.”
Singh is thus the third senior official to plead guilty. Previously, Caroline Ellison, former Alameda Research CEO, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang preceded him. With Singh’s confession, there is a good chance that even more accomplices will opt for a deal with the prosecutors.
Ex-CEO FTX maintains innocence
Bankman-Fried, the big man behind the fallen FTX, still maintains his innocence and never knew about all the offenses committed by the exchange. His story is getting weaker by the day.
Should SBF prosecutors be successful in the upcoming trial, Bankman-Fried could face decades of imprisonment. The day before Singh pleaded guilty was also not a good day for SBF. There were four new charges on top of the existing pile. Bank fraud, among others, was added to the list.
For the time being, SBF is free on bail and under house arrest. He resides in his childhood home in California.