Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have convened a grand jury and started issuing subpoenas for bank records and other financial documents tied to Neville Roy Singham, the Shanghai-based former ThoughtWorks founder whose donations have helped fund a web of nonprofits and activist outlets. Investigators describe this as an early phase of a criminal inquiry focused on tracking how money moved through intermediary entities and donor vehicles into U.S. organizations.
News of the grand-jury activity surfaced Monday in a report from Townhall, which said subpoenas have begun going out and that the inquiry was authorized by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. According to that account, the probe is being run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, with the Manhattan-based team handling the grand jury.
Members of Congress have been pressing for answers on Singham-linked funding streams for more than a year. In a June 13, 2025 letter, the House Oversight Committee asked the Justice Department for a briefing and documents to determine whether U.S. organizations backed by Singham’s money might have been operating at the direction of a foreign power and whether current disclosure rules are sufficient.
On a separate track, the House Ways and Means Committee sent document requests in May 2026 to several nonprofits tied to the donor network. Citing public filings, lawmakers said that “over $20 million” appears to have flowed to The People’s Forum and related groups from funds connected to Singham. The committee said it needs the material to evaluate whether existing tax-exempt and reporting rules adequately capture complex cross-border funding arrangements, and House Ways and Means has since followed up with more targeted document demands.
How investigators say the money moved
Previous reporting that tracked the finances describes large transfers routed through intermediary firms and donor-advised accounts before grants landed at U.S. nonprofits and media outlets. One investigation by Fox News Digital mapped roughly $278 million moving from a Shanghai base into a Goldman Sachs philanthropy account and two intermediary firms. Those entities then issued grants to U.S. groups including CodePink and The People’s Forum, according to that reporting.
Legal stakes and what prosecutors must prove
Prosecutors are said to be assessing whether any transfers or accounting practices could support potential charges such as wire fraud, bank fraud or money-laundering, all of which would require proof that someone intended to deceive or hide illicit activity. Reporting and congressional inquiries indicate that the Southern District of New York is leading the grand-jury work in Manhattan. The AP notes that U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton oversees that office, and Justice Department staff pages list Todd Blanche as the acting attorney general.
What to watch next
Grand-jury subpoenas give investigators power to compel records and testimony while they decide whether to seek criminal charges, but the subpoenas themselves are not indictments. For now, prosecutors have not announced any charges. How far this goes, and whether it results in criminal cases, will turn on what the grand jury and investigators uncover in bank records, internal documents and witness testimony.
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