Former FTX execs, government witnesses to be sentenced this fall

Two former FTX executives who pleaded guilty and cooperated with the government will be sentenced in New York in the fall. 

Former Director of Engineering Nishad Singh and former Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang will be sentenced on Oct. 30, 2024 and Nov. 20, 2024, respectively. 

Singh, an old high school classmate of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded guilty to four federal counts in February 2023. He testified at Bankman-Fried’s trial that hedge fund Alameda Research took billions of dollars from FTX, at Bankman-Fried’s direction. 

“I’ve always been intimidated [of Bankman-Fried],” Singh said during the November trial. “Sam’s a formidable character… I think over time a lot of that eroded.” 

Wang, who pleaded guilty to four federal counts of fraud and conspiracy in December 2022, also helped paint an incriminating picture of Bankman-Fried to the jury. Wang created special advantages for Alameda Research that were not available to other FTX customers, allowing the hedge fund to place orders faster. These privileges ultimately resulted in the $8 billion hole Alameda owed the FTX exchange by the time the company collapsed in the fall of 2022. 

The scheduling update comes roughly six weeks after Ryan Salame, another one of Bankman-Fried’s former associates, was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison . Salame in September 2023 pleaded guilty to two federal counts of campaign finance violations and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. 

Salame , the first among Bankman-Fried’s former associates to be sentenced, is the only one of the four former FTX executives who pleaded guilty that did not testify against Bankman-Fried during his trial last fall. 

Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw Bankman-Fried’s trial and will sentence all other parties, opted to hand down a punishment just above the government’s recommendation for Salame, which was five to seven years in prison. 

Salame’s minimal cooperation, the prosecution said in their sentencing memo in May, meant his contributions to the case against Bankman-Fried were “relatively minor.” 

Given Nishad and Wang’s cooperation as witnesses, and the fact that they both pleaded guilty months before Salame, should result in more lenient sentences, although both could face decades. 

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research and fellow government witness, has not yet had her sentencing date scheduled. Ellison pleaded guilty to seven federal counts which carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.

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