FTX Fraud Trial: Former Employee Testifies to Committing Crimes alongside Sam Bankman-Fried
In the ongoing fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, another former member of his inner circle, Nishad Singh, took the stand on Monday and testified that he had committed crimes alongside the 31-year-old crypto entrepreneur. Singh, who was the former director of engineering at the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and conspiring to violate US campaign finance laws. He is one of three close colleagues of Bankman-Fried to plead guilty and testify against him.
During his testimony, Singh confirmed the previous testimonies of his former coworkers, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang. He stated that by June 2022, he and others in the executive ranks were aware that FTX customer deposits were being routed to Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm controlled by Bankman-Fried. Singh disclosed that he overheard Bankman-Fried saying back in December 2019, during the creation of FTX’s computer databases, that customer deposits needed to be made into Alameda bank accounts because it was difficult for FTX to open its own accounts at that time.
Singh also revealed that he followed Wang’s direction to write computer code that allowed Alameda to carry negative balances in its FTX account. However, Singh testified that he believed the feature was intended for incidental transfers and small amounts, not for the substantial sums that were actually being transferred. He further stated that in June 2022, he became aware of an accounting project commissioned by Bankman-Fried to fix a bug in FTX’s accounting. Before the fix, Alameda appeared to owe FTX $19 billion. After the bug was fixed, Alameda’s balance sheet showed a smaller liability of roughly $8 billion. Singh learned from Bankman-Fried that this money was being used by Alameda for investments, political donations, and real estate.
Singh testified that Bankman-Fried was ultimately in charge of Alameda and responsible for the architecture of fund transfers between Alameda and FTX. He described how Bankman-Fried would monitor Alameda’s transfers on one of his six monitors while leading FTX as CEO. Singh also expressed concerns about what he considered excessive spending by Alameda, including endorsement deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars with celebrities and sports teams. He admitted that he had always been intimidated by Bankman-Fried’s brilliance and formidable presence but mentioned that his admiration for him had eroded over time.
The prosecution is arguing that Bankman-Fried committed wire fraud and other crimes by embezzling billions in FTX customer funds and deceiving investors and lenders. Bankman-Fried’s defense team is yet to present their case.
Häufig gestellte Fragen (Google Snippets)
Wer ist Nishad Singh?
Nishad Singh ist der ehemalige technische Direktor der Kryptowährungsbörse FTX. Er hat zugegeben, gemeinsam mit Sam Bankman-Fried Verbrechen begangen zu haben und hat im laufenden Betrugsprozess gegen Bankman-Fried ausgesagt.
Welche Verbrechen hat Nishad Singh begangen?
Nishad Singh hat im Februar dieses Jahres zugegeben, Drahtbetrug und Verschwörung zur Verletzung von US-Kampagnenfinanzierungsgesetzen begangen zu haben.
Was wurde während Nishad Singhs Aussage enthüllt?
Nishad Singh bestätigte die früheren Aussagen seiner ehemaligen Mitarbeiter Caroline Ellison und Gary Wang. Er enthüllte, dass Kundenanlagen von FTX an Alameda Research, eine Kryptohandelsfirma, die von Sam Bankman-Fried kontrolliert wird, weitergeleitet wurden. Singh berichtete auch, dass Bankman-Fried persönlich für die Architektur der Geldtransfers zwischen Alameda und FTX verantwortlich war.
Was wird Sam Bankman-Fried vorgeworfen?
Sam Bankman-Fried wird vorgeworfen, Drahtbetrug und andere Verbrechen begangen zu haben, indem er Milliarden von FTX-Kundengeldern veruntreut und Investoren und Kreditgeber getäuscht hat.
