Key points to remember
- Former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh pleaded guilty to six criminal charges yesterday.
- The CFTC and SEC filed civil suits against him.
- Regulators seek civil monetary penalties and again ban Singh from trading in commodities and securities.
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FTX chief engineer Nishad Singh was sued by the SEC and CFTC shortly after pleading guilty to six criminal charges yesterday.
Aiding and abetting fraud
Another of Sam Bankman-Fried’s lieutenants is facing civil lawsuits.
Yesterday the two Security and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed complaints against former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh.
The CFTC charged Singh with fraud and aiding and abetting fraud by FTX, Alameda Research and Sam Bankman-Fried. Among other things, the regulator is seeking civil monetary penalties, the return of funds, and a ban on Singh ever being involved again in the transaction of commodity interest or “digital asset commodities.” .
“Today’s filing reflects the CFTC’s commitment to protecting U.S. digital commodity markets,” said CFTC Chief Counsel Gretchen Lowe. “Today’s record also includes a concession of liability by an individual who, as charged, engaged in and aided in material violations of the Trade in Commodities Act and CFTC regulations. .”
The SEC for its part accused Singh of violating the Securities Act and the Exchange Act by allowing Bankman-Fried to move FTX funds illegally. The agency is also seeking civil monetary penalties and prohibiting Singh from trading in securities, including “crypto asset securities.”
“We allege this was outright fraud,” SEC Chief Enforcement Officer Gurbir Grewal said. “While on the one hand, FTX touted its supposedly effective risk-mitigation measures to investors, on the other hand, Mr. Singh and his co-defendants were stealing client funds using software code that Mr. Singh helped create.”
Singh pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of wire fraud, three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one count of conspiracy to launder money and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by violating campaign finance laws.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this article, the author of this article owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.