SEC Seeks 10-Year Ban for Ellison, 8 Years for Wang and Singh

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed proposed final consent judgments today seeking officer-and-director bars against three former FTX executives who testified against Sam Bankman-Fried, with Caroline Ellison facing a decade-long prohibition, while Gary Wang and Nishad Singh would receive eight-year restrictions.

The filings in Manhattan federal court formalize settlement terms for executives who cooperated extensively with prosecutors during Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial but still face permanent securities law injunctions.

Ellison, Wang, and Singh agreed to permanent injunctions barring future violations of federal antifraud provisions, along with five-year conduct-based restrictions, according to SEC Litigation Release 26450.

The proposed judgments require court approval before taking effect.

Notably, the latest SEC enforcement action was conducted by Amy Burkart alongside investigators Devlin Su, Ivan Snyder, David Brown, Brian Huchro, and Pasha Salimi under the supervision of Laura D’Allaird and Amy Flaherty Hartman from the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit.

FTX Executives Consent to Permanent Securities Fraud Injunctions

The SEC’s original complaints alleged that from May 2019 through November 2022, the executives participated in raising over $1.8 billion from investors through false claims about FTX’s safety measures and risk controls.

Prosecutors charged that Bankman-Fried, Wang, and Singh exempted Alameda Research from automated risk mitigation while granting the trading firm unlimited access to customer deposits.

Wang and Singh wrote software that diverted FTX customer funds to Alameda, while Ellison directed misappropriated assets toward the hedge fund’s trading operations.

Bankman-Fried subsequently transferred hundreds of millions in additional customer funds to Alameda for venture investments and personal loans to executives, including Wang and Singh.

The three defendants consented to final judgments without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.

Beyond permanent antifraud injunctions under Securities Exchange Act Section 10(b) and Securities Act Section 17(a), they accepted conduct-based restrictions that would prevent similar violations for five years.

Cooperation Yields Divergent Criminal Sentences Despite Securities Bars

Just days ago, it was discovered that Ellison completed approximately 11 months at Danbury Federal Correctional Institution before transferring to community confinement in October, with her projected release now set for February 2026.

Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced her to two years despite defense requests for probation, praising her substantial cooperation while maintaining that the fraud’s severity warranted incarceration.

During her September 2024 sentencing hearing, Ellison expressed deep remorse while holding back tears.

“On some level, my brain doesn’t even comprehend all the people I harmed,” she told the court.

Her attorneys had requested no prison time, but Kaplan rejected what he termed a “literal get-out-of-jail-free card” despite acknowledging her unprecedented cooperation.

Federal prosecutors emphasized Ellison’s critical testimony in their September sentencing recommendation, noting the “what” and “how” of the crimes would have been difficult to prove without her three days of trial testimony.

She revealed that Bankman-Fried instructed executives to invest billions in customer assets that had been secretly siphoned from FTX through Alameda Research.

Wang and Singh received time-served sentences with supervised release after testifying that Bankman-Fried directed the creation of an “allow negative” feature that granted Alameda nearly unlimited access to customer funds.

Both avoided additional prison time entirely following their cooperation.

FTX Bankruptcy Delivers Creditor Repayments Exceeding Original Claims

FTX’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan resumed distributions in May 2025, delivering between 119% and 143% to eligible creditors who completed verification requirements through designated service providers BitGo or Kraken.

Around 98% of affected users with claims under $50,000 received 119% of their declared funds under the bankruptcy court’s approved restructuring framework.

Bankman-Fried remains incarcerated at a low‑security Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island in Los Angeles, serving his 25-year sentence following conviction on seven fraud and conspiracy counts.

Most recently, his November appeal hearing challenged the claim that he was “presumed guilty,” asserting that he was denied fair trial procedures.

At the same time, his family continues to seek presidential clemency, arguing that FTX maintained sufficient assets to repay all customers in full throughout the collapse.

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