FTX CEO Makes Last-Minute Plea for Leniency in Nishad Singh Sentencing

With hours to go until former FTX executive Nishad Singh is sentenced for his involvement in the crypto exchange’s historic collapse, the company’s current CEO has asked the case’s judge to consider how a prison sentence could interfere with Singh’s ability to further aid FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings. 

John J. Ray III, the seasoned executive who is shepherding FTX through Chapter 11 proceedings, sent a letter Tuesday to Judge Lewis Kaplan, court filings show, regarding Singh’s imminent sentencing. 

In the letter, Ray described Singh’s “valuable” cooperation with FTX’s bankruptcy process in great detail, and implied that Singh would continue to be extremely helpful to those efforts in the future—should be able and willing to provide such assistance, rather than potentially locked up in prison like some of his former colleagues.

“Mr. Singh has provided the debtors with valuable assistance and cooperation,” Ray wrote. “Mr. Singh also has agreed to provide further assistance and cooperation on an ongoing and prospective basis.”

“The debtors expect that his cooperation will continue to be important to maximize recovery for the creditors,” Ray added.

The last-minute appeal to Kaplan appears to be intended to compel the judge to make sure that no matter what sentence he hands down to Singh on Wednesday afternoon, it won’t be so harsh as to prevent the young crypto executive from voluntarily cooperating with FTX’s bankruptcy team.

Ray explained that FTX’s debtors and Singh are in the midst of hammering out a deal that would see the latter agree to testify as needed, volunteer documents and information, review and clarify documents, locate and retrieve assets, and answer questions from the debtors’ advisors. 

Ray characterized this potential, continued level of assistance from Singh as crucial, given the former FTX engineering director’s “extensive knowledge of FTX’s system and processes” and his “personal involvement in many key events and transactions.”

The FTX case’s prosecutors—who agreed to send what’s known as a “5K letter” to Judge Kaplan describing Singh’s cooperation with their investigation, in exchange for said cooperation—sent over such a note last week. While it commended Singh for his “exemplary” contributions to the case against FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, it did not make any specific suggestions about Singh’s sentence. 

Ray, however, is under no such obligations to weigh in on Singh’s fate. Thus, his Tuesday letter would appear to signal that the executive is trying to impact the 29-year-old’s sentencing, one way or another. 

Singh is set to receive his sentence from Judge Kaplan today at 3pm ET, at the Manhattan courthouse where the FTX case has captivated attention for nearly two years. Last month, Kaplan sentenced Singh’s fellow co-conspirator-turned-cooperator, Caroline Ellison, to two years in federal prison.

Edited by Andrew Hayward