SEC charges former FTX exec Nishad Singh with defrauding investors

• Nishad Singh is a former co-lead of engineering at FTX.
• SEC says the former exec created the software that Sam Bankman-Fried used to divert FTX customer funds to Alameda Research.
• Singh withdrew $6 million from FTX for personal use, according to the SEC complaint.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Nishad Singh, a former lead engineer at cryptocurrency exchange FTX for taking part in a scheme to defraud investors of the now collapsed crypto trading platform.

Singh is a co-founder of FTX, alongside former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang.

Singh withdrew $6 million of FTX funds for personal use

Per the SEC’s complaint, Singh was behind the software code used to withdraw and divert billions of FTX customers’ funds to the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research. 

Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang co-owned Alameda, the SEC noted in a press release, adding that Singh actively participated in the eventual defrauding of customers.

Singh allegedly helped the former CEO transfer “hundreds of millions of dollars” to Alameda, knowing very well these were customer funds. The former FTX engineer is accused of withdrawing about $6 million from FTX as the crypto exchange nosedived towards collapse. The SEC complaint says Singh put the money to personal use, including on a house and for donations to charity.

In all, the SEC says Singh violated the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 anti-fraud provisions. The ex-FTX exec has agreed to a split settlement, the agency announced, with the agreement subject to court approval.

Other than the SEC charges, Singh also faces charges from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).