Walz, Ellison return donations from FTX defendants

The political campaign of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz returned a maximum $4,000 donation from Nishad Singh, a key figure in the FTX cryptocurrency scandal.

The money was originally donated by Singh in late October 2022. He listed a Las Vegas address. It was returned in late December, according to records on file at the state Campaign Finance Board. The money was returned to the U.S. government through the campaign’s law firm.

Singh, the Director of Engineering for failed cryptocurrency firm FTX, pled guilty in New York earlier this week to criminal charges arising out of the firm’s collapse late last year. The counts included six charges of fraud and conspiracy.

Like his former business colleague, Sam Bankman-Fried, Singh donated millions of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes in recent years. Over the past three years, Singh made 43 donations to leftist candidates and groups, totaling more than $14 million.

Speaking of Sam, also noteworthy was a max $2,500 donation received by Attorney General Keith Ellison from the FTX crypto CEO. The donation was recorded on November 2, 2022, the day the FTX scandal broke in the media. The donation was returned later that month. Brinkman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges made against him in Federal court.

The address listed for Bankman-Fried was his $40 million penthouse condo, where he lived with his polycule, in Nassau, Bahamas.

Records released yesterday indicate that the total amount of money missing from FTX is approaching $9 billion, making it one of the largest corporate frauds in U.S. history.