A federal judge overseeing the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has scheduled sentencing hearings for FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former director of engineering Nishad Singh. In a filing on July 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan stated that Singh’s sentencing would be on October 30, while Wang’s sentencing was set for November 20. During this process, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was not mentioned.
Significant Development in FTX Case
Wang and Ellison were among the first to plead guilty to charges related to their roles in the now-defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange’s 2022 bankruptcy process. Singh pleaded guilty to multiple serious charges, including fraud and money laundering, in February 2023. The former executives testified against Bankman-Fried in the criminal case, which likely contributed to Judge Kaplan sentencing the former CEO to 25 years in prison.
Former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, Ryan Salame, also pleaded guilty to related charges but did not significantly cooperate with authorities, leading Judge Kaplan to sentence him to 90 months in prison. He is scheduled to surrender to authorities on August 29 and has continued to post controversial statements on his X account following his sentencing.
Singh and Wang’s potential prison sentences for their roles in FTX’s bankruptcy process remain uncertain, as both cooperated with U.S. authorities. During SBF’s criminal trial, Wang suggested that he received a 5K letter from government officials, allowing them to consider a suitable reduction in his potential sentence in exchange for his testimony.
Details on the Matter
Singh stated during the trial that Bankman-Fried would unilaterally spend Alameda’s funds and that he began to distrust the former CEO. Wang testified that the exchange used secret code to misrepresent the value of its insurance fund, which led to its inability to cover user losses. The testimonies of both executives, Ellison, and other affected parties likely contributed to SBF’s conviction.
Bankman-Fried remains detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as his legal team prepares to appeal his conviction and sentence. Parties affected by FTX’s bankruptcy continue to make various claims on the exchange’s assets through bankruptcy court and class action lawsuits.
