According to reports, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are investigating Nishad Sing, former FTX engineering chief, for possible involvement in defrauding users and investors.
Bloomberg reported Jan. 5 that U.S. officials are looking at individuals in former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle as part of their criminal probe of the exchange’s collapse. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges against him, but former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang reached plea deals with prosecutors in December, admitting to fraud at the company.
Sam Bankman-Fried is now in court to face his arraignment. We’re told he will plead not guilty to all the charges against him. pic.twitter.com/yakSLkOus8
— Connell McShane (@connellmcshane) January 3, 2023
It’s unclear what role Singh may have played in the alleged criminal acts and regulatory violations at FTX Group. He was reportedly part of the ‘wirefraud’ chat group along with Ellison, Bankman-Fried and Wang, which allegedly discussed the illegal financial ties between FTX and Alameda. Singh spent his time at FTX in the Bahamas, near other employees of crypto firm.
Bankman-Fried’s criminal case is still ongoing. His trial is scheduled for Oct. 2. On Jan. 4, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York — where the FTX criminal cases are being handled — announced the formation of a task force to “trace and recover” missing user funds as well as investigate matters related to the exchange’s collapse.
FTX, its executives and other defendants were charged with using crypto exchange assets to finance investments through Alameda Research. This was without the consent or knowledge from investors or users. As part of her plea agreement, Ellison said Alameda had access to a “borrowing facility” through FTX from 2019 to 2022.
Related: The US and FTX collaborated in the Sam Bankman Fried case.
FTX Group filed bankruptcy papers on November 11. The company’s bankruptcy proceedings in the District of Delaware are also ongoing, with the next hearing scheduled for Jan. 11. According to bankruptcy court filings Alameda loaned $1 Billion to Bankman-Fried, and $543 Million to Singh.