DENVER — As more and more information comes out about indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his donations to Democrat politicians and campaigns in Colorado, one of Bankman-Fried’s right hand men continues to fly under the radar.
However, reports on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website show one of the top FTX employees, who authorities are still trying to locate, played a much larger role in helping Democrats win office in Colorado.
FTX was one of the leading centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in the world until its fall earlier this year. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, and Bankman-Fried has been charged with, among other things, conspiracy to commit wire and commodities fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit campaign finance violations.
But while Bankman-Fried donated about $40,000 directly to candidates, Nishad Singh, the director of engineering at the now bankrupt FTX, donated $164,000 in the final 30 days leading up to the November election to Better Colorado Alliance, one of the state’s largest players in Democrat politics.
Bankman-Fried and Indian native Singh, 27, were roommates at one time, but according to NDTV — New Delhi Television — Singh was fired a week after the bankruptcy was filed. The report says Singh has not been charged, nor has he been seen since he was fired.
“Though Bankman-Fried served as the public face of FTX, it was a tight-knit inner circle (that included Bankman-Fried, Gary) Wang, Caroline Ellison and (Singh), who are said to have been aware of the decision to use FTX customer money to help Alameda meet its debts,” the report said. “That decision ultimately doomed FTX and strikes at the heart of whether they committed fraud.”
The Independent Expenditure Committee Better Colorado Alliance has been playing in Colorado politics since 2018, but stepped up its game this year, spending $4.6 million “to educate and inform Colorado voters about state house candidates, primarily supporting Democrats and opposing Republicans.”
The group was responsible for numerous false attack ads on several Republican candidates for the state House in 2022, including nearly $700,000 in House District 50, where Democrat incumbent Mary Young, who is also the wife of State Treasurer Dave Young, barely squeaked out a re-election bid, winning by just 299 votes over newcomer Ryan Gonzalez. Young won with just 49 percent of the vote.
“The hundreds of millions of dollars in tainted money from FTX that Democrats received and used here in Colorado and across the country is something that needs to be seriously investigated,” said Colorado GOP Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown. “These individuals committed fraud and then used this fraud to pump millions of dollars to far-left candidates and Democrat groups. Questions should be asked and investigations should be launched regarding FTX’s political spending.
