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Federal Criminal Trialtrial-daytrial-dayDanielle KudlaNicolas RoosMark S. CohenChristian R. EverdellRichard BusickNishad SinghcrossredirectdirectDay 10 - October 17, 2023Nishad Singh’s cross-examination and redirect addressed Alameda’s borrowing, the fiat@ftx accounting bug, political-donation funding, and his purchase of an Orcas Island home. The court also considered disputes over exhibits for proposed financial testimony. FBI agent Richard Busick explained cell-site location analysis and acknowledged that the records could not identify the phone’s user.
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Day 10 - October 17, 2023

Singh Cross and Redirect, Expert Exhibits, and Cell-Site Testimony

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan
9Proceedings
4Pages
2Witnesses
2,178Lines
Day 10 of 19
Appearing:

Nishad Singh’s cross-examination and redirect addressed Alameda’s borrowing, the fiat@ftx accounting bug, political-donation funding, and his purchase of an Orcas Island home. The court also considered disputes over exhibits for proposed financial testimony. FBI agent Richard Busick explained cell-site location analysis and acknowledged that the records could not identify the phone’s user.

Full day summary

Defense counsel continued Nishad Singh’s cross-examination about Alameda’s borrowing, FTX code, political-donation funding, and his own conduct. Singh testified that he first knew he had acted wrongfully when he helped doctor Serum staking-fee revenue in December 2021. He distinguished that event from his June 2022 suspicions about Alameda’s borrowing and his September understanding that the money was not there. He described the June inquiry into the fiat@ftx accounting bug, said Gary Wang calculated its effect at about $8 billion, and clarified that assurances concerned tracking the full account balance rather than separately tracking the bug’s changing effect. Singh also discussed proposals to close Alameda’s accounts, a contemplated but uncompleted backdated token trade, and his $3.7 million Orcas Island home. He acknowledged buying the home after knowing the purchase drew on customer funds and characterized his spending as egregious, unnecessary, and selfish. On redirect, after a limiting instruction concerning campaign-finance offenses, Singh identified Sam Bankman-Fried and Ryan Salame as his co-conspirators. He explained his forfeiture of the house, described a $477 million options loan as a paper transaction, and said political-donation transfers were not really loans because they lacked paperwork, prior discussion, and consistent treatment as repayment obligations. The court separately considered objections to exhibits proposed for Professor Peter Easton’s financial testimony. The defense challenged the timing and disclosure of underlying data and argued that some charts incorporated expert conclusions or tracing assumptions. The court reserved decision on one exhibit, rejected categorical exclusion of all non-evidentiary material referenced in demonstratives, and directed the parties to narrow their disputes. FBI Special Agent Richard Busick then explained historical cell-site analysis and offered qualified opinions that a phone number attributed in an admitted email to Bankman-Fried was near several Manhattan locations. He emphasized that the records identified connected antennas rather than the phone’s exact position. On cross-examination, he confirmed that the records could not establish who was using the phone or reveal call contents.

1. Nishad Singh — Cross (Part 2)

Day 10 begins with defense counsel cross-examining Nishad Singh about FTX spending, Alameda's borrowing, code changes, political donations, and when he understood that funds were missing and his own conduct was wrongful.

Procedural
Sealed Reporter Pages 1488–1490
2 lines
Procedural
Open-Court Pre-Witness Proceedings
6 lines
Cross
Nishad Singh — Cross Nishad Singh Mark S. Cohen
1262 lines

Defense counsel tested Nishad Singh's memory and responsibility while examining the $8 billion fiat@ftx bug, Alameda's code privileges, backdated Serum payments, and the funding and approval of political donations.

Highlights

Nishad Singh — CrossadmissionThe defense elicited that Singh first knew he had acted wrongfully when he helped doctor Serum staking-fee revenue in late December 2021. Singh then distinguished that conduct from his June 2022 suspicions about Alameda's borrowing and his September realization that the money was not there.Nishad Singh — Cross“Before that point, I knew that in June, I had observed Alameda borrowing in large amounts in a way that didn't meet the expectations I had and what I'd been told about how Alameda would use things like "Allow Negative." Even in June, when I suspected there was wrongdoing there, I took cues from the people around me and didn't pursue it further. In September, I understood not only had there been an enormous amount of borrowing but that the money wasn't there at all.”— Nishad SinghSingh distinguished his June suspicions from his September understanding of the missing funds and admitted that he failed to pursue warning signs.Nishad Singh — Crosstestimony highlightSingh reconstructed the June inquiry into Alameda's accounts, testifying that Gary calculated the fiat@ftx bug's effect at about $8 billion and that charts indicated the bug explained much of Alameda's unexplained balance breaks.Nishad Singh — Cross“Gary assured me that the full balance, not separately the size of the error, was being tracked. Gary assured me that the fiat@FTX.com balance, which included the bug, was being tracked. Caroline assured me it was. I don't think anybody told me that the size of the bug was being tracked over time.”— Nishad SinghThe clarification narrowed what Singh said Gary and Caroline had represented about tracking the fiat@ftx balance and the bug's effect.

3. Nishad Singh — Cross/Redirect (Part 3)

Nishad Singh’s resumed cross-examination on Day 10 covered efforts to close Alameda, his house purchase with customer funds, government interviews, and his cooperation agreement. On redirect, he addressed campaign-finance conduct, paper loans, and why he considered resigning in fall 2022.

Cross
Nishad Singh — Cross Resumed Nishad Singh Mark S. Cohen
332 lines

Defense counsel tested Nishad Singh's knowledge and credibility through Alameda-closure discussions, an FTX-funded house purchase, a proposed backdated debt-unwinding trade, prior government interviews, and his proffer and cooperation agreements.

Redirect
Nishad Singh — Redirect Nishad Singh Nicolas Roos
82 lines

Nishad Singh clarified the provenance of prosecutor notes, his house forfeiture, an auto-deleveraging code commit, paper-only loan arrangements, political-donation transfers, and why he considered resigning in fall 2022.

Highlights

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