FTX top engineer testifies Bankman-Fried spent $1.13 billion on celebrities and sponsorships

[kevinUsa]

Nishad Singh, FTX's former director of engineering, told jurors Monday that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed crypto exchange, spent huge sums of money on everything from real estate and venture investments to campaign donations and celebrity endorsements.

 

Singh took the stand in Manhattan federal court, as the third week of Bankman-Fried's criminal trial kicked off, with prosecutors continuing to call the defendant's onetime closest confidants to the stand. Ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, who ran sister hedge fund Alameda Research, testified last week. She was preceded by Bankman-Fried's former close friend and college roommate Gary Wang, who was an FTX co-founder.

 

In response to questions from Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos, Singh said he frequently went to Bankman-Fried to voice his concerns over the company's spending. He told the court that he would tell Bankman-Fried he was "embarrassed" and "ashamed," and that the level of spending "reeked of excessiveness" and "flashiness."

 

How Bankman-Fried, 31, spent FTX money is a critical piece of the prosecution's case because the bulk of the alleged fraud revolves around what happened to billions of dollars of customer funds that were supposed to be invested in crypto and held in client accounts but later disappeared. Bankman-Fried faces seven criminal counts related to the collapse of FTX and Alameda, including wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering that could put him in prison for life. He's pleaded not guilty.

 

Like Ellison, Singh is cooperating with the prosecution as part of a plea deal he agreed to in February. At the time, Singh pleaded guilty to six charges, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.

 

Singh, who grew up in the Bay Area, testified that he met the defendant during his sophomore or junior year of high school, through Bankman-Fried's younger brother, Gabe. Singh studied electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California at Berkeley and briefly worked at Facebook before joining Alameda in 2017.