Attorney General Recuses Herself From Criminal Investigation Into Former FTX Executive

Nishad Singh, a former FTX executive, made a $500,000 donation to Oregon’s Democratic party last October

article-image

mundissima/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The Oregon Department of Justice is heading up a criminal investigation into a former FTX executive, though an attorney general has recused herself from the investigation.

According to a May 18 press release, the Oregon Department of Justice took over the investigation into Nishad Singh’s $500,000 donation to the Democratic Party of Oregon last October. 

The Oregon Elections Division referred the case to the Oregon DOJ after a seven-month investigation, claiming “sufficient information” to justify the criminal investigation.

“Nishad Singh admitted under oath in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that he agreed to make political donations in his own name that were funded with money from Sam Bankman-Fried’s companies FTX and Alameda,” Elections manager Alma Whalen said in a press release.

However, the attorney general at Oregon’s DOJ, Ellen Rosenblum, recused herself from the case. 

A spokesperson told the Oregon Capital Chronicle that the recusal will cover the “review, investigation or prosecution” that comes from the elections division’s referral.

The Oregon Department of Justice’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Rosenblum is a Democrat with a history of giving money from her campaign fund to Democrats. As the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported, both elected officials and candidates contribute to political action committees (PACs) for parties or political caucuses. 

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Udland will lead the investigation.

Oregon does not have a campaign contribution limit, but it is a felony to make or accept a donation under a “false name.” As a Class C felony offense, anyone found guilty could face up to five years in prison as well as a fine of up to $125,000.

The investigation comes after state election officials fined the Oregon Democratic Party $35,000 for failing to register the donor’s identity. An investigation that led to a settlement agreement later lowered the fine amount to $15,000.

The Elections Division did not find “clear evidence” that the party knew the donor when the contribution was reported. Going forward, the Secretary of State will monitor financial disclosures from the party.

In February, the SEC charged Singh with defrauding investors for a “multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors” in FTX. 

Singh was also one of three executives who could make illicit transfers to Alameda Research to cover “financial losses.”

As Blockworks has previously reported, Singh received around $587 million in compensation out of a $3.2 billion total received by the top brass at FTX.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Unlocked by Template (7).png

Research

Union’s improvements upon Tendermint consensus through CometBLS, coupled with ZK proving through Galois, allow for a broadly scalable, cost efficient, and low latency IBC implementation that is feasibly scalable across every existing blockchain, virtual machine and runtime. The implementation offers modular crosschain interoperability without the need for trusted intermediaries.  

article-image

The drop gives buyers Adidas outfits for their in-game characters, but the game hasn’t fully released yet

article-image

In 1999, Daniel Bernstein fought for code to be protected, just like free speech

article-image

Sentora aims to create an ecosystem focused on institutional investors’ DeFi needs

article-image

Using Bitcoin as a model, Vitalik’s new priority for Ethereum is technical simplicity

article-image

Solana leaders privately told validators to upgrade their software