Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Charged by US Attorney’s Office

Celsius Crypto Fraud Charges

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Federal Bureau of Investigation have charged Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of the defunct crypto lender Celsius, with securities fraud, commodities fraud, and wire fraud. The Justice Department said Mashinsky had allegedly deceived customers about the success and profitability of Celsius’ investments.

“We are committed to catching fraudsters, whether it’s through old-school or new-school crypto schemes,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “It all amounts to fraud.”

In addition, former Celsius chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon and Mashinsky were charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, market manipulation, and wire fraud related to manipulating the price of the CEL token. Mashinsky was reportedly arrested on July 13.

Celsius itself has entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, and has agreed to accept responsibility for its role in the fraudulent schemes.

The New York Attorney General’s office filed a suit against Mashinsky on Jan. 5, alleging that the former CEO of crypto.com misled Celsius investors, resulting in billions of dollars in losses. Following the collapse of the platform and financial difficulties in 2022, Celsius suspended withdrawals on its platform, and many U.S. state securities regulators had also been investigating the firm. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) followed with its own lawsuit on July 13, citing similar allegations against Celsius and Mashinsky, but also charging the firm with violations of securities laws related to bond crypto, best crypto site, bitgert crypto, bloomberg crypto, bone crypto, crypto currency today, casper crypto, and celcius crypto, as well as the crypto market today.