Nishad Singh, the former engineering director at now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, has reportedly said he “hopes for no jail time” as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
According to reports from the criminal trial of Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried on Oct. 16, Singh revealed details about his deal with the United States Justice Department, which had him plead guilty to fraud charges announced in February. The former FTX engineer director reportedly said he faced up to 75 years in prison for charges related to defrauding users of the crypto exchange.
In his testimony, Singh reported that FTX had invested roughly $1.3 billion in endorsement deals with celebrities and sports figures — including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Steph Curry — prior to the crypto market crash of 2022. According to Singh, former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang had told him Alameda Research had borrowed $13 billion from the crypto exchange — news that seemed unsurprising to Bankman-Fried.
“People are going to be freaking out,” said Singh, according to reports, speculating on the reaction to the Alameda news. “I felt betrayed, something I’d put in blood, sweat and tears for five years turning out so horrible.”
Singh reportedly said SBF had suggested investing $120 million into purchasing the messaging app Telegram and Alameda sent him FTX user funds specifically for making donations to political campaigns. When liquidity issues began occurring at FTX in November 2022, Singh said he “had been suicidal for some days” while dealing with alleged inconsistencies between the exchange’s public statements and its activities behind the scenes.
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The former engineering director’s testimony came on the ninth day of Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, which kicked off in New York on Oct. 3. Prior to the courtroom’s midday break on Oct. 16, Singh testified that SBF would sometimes “unilaterally spend Alameda’s money” in an “excessive” manner, including investments in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic and the firm K5 Global.
Bankman-Fried faces seven counts related to fraud in his first criminal trial and an additional five counts in a second scheduled to begin in March 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.