Indian-origin Nishad Singh, who was the former director of engineering at the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to US criminal charges and extended cooperation with the investigation into FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. "I am unbelievably sorry for my role in all of this," Singh said, according to the news agency Reuters report. The 27-year-old engineer said he was aware by mid-2022 that Bankman-Fried's hedge fund, Alameda Research, was borrowing FTX customer funds, and customers were not aware. Singh, who was part of the inner circle that ran the hedge fund, said he would forfeit proceeds from the scheme.
Singh, a former Facebook employee, was among the nine housemates of Bankman-Fried, according to a Coindesk report. The members stayed and worked in a luxury penthouse in the Bahamas, from where the team operated FTX.
IN PICS: FTX Collapse: Indian-Origin Nishad Singh Under Scanner. Know His Story
In December 2017, Singh joined Alameda Research, FTX’s sister organisation, which is at the centre of the controversy. Singh studied at Crystal Springs Uplands School in California and graduated summa cum laude from the University of California Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2017, as per his LinkedIn profile.
He was a software engineer at Facebook, in an entry-level position where he got to work on machine learning. According to his Linkedin profile, he took over as Director of Engineering at FTX in April 2019.
FTX's founder Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges filed against him in December. The founder is accused of stealing billions in FTX customer funds to contain losses at Alameda. Even though he acknowledged inadequate risk management, he did commit to stealing funds.
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Among the charges levelled against him, Singh pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one count of conspiracy for being involved in money laundering along with one more count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by violating campaign finance laws.
Singh moved back from the Bahamas shortly after FTX imploded in November partly to support the US investigation, prosecutor Danielle Sassoon said at Tuesday's hearing. He was released on a $250,000 bond.
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The 30-year-old founder Bankman-Fried has 12 criminal charges against him after prosecutors unsealed a new indictment last week.
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