The founder and former CEO of the bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network could be jailed for 20 years for lying and malfeasance. Alexander Mashinsky, now 59 years old, assured thousands of his company’s clients that their money was safe and secure. This encouraged them to invest $20 billion in Celsius. And in 2022 the company filed for bankruptcy. It’s funny, but Celsius Network tried to help the exchange FTX, which went bankrupt the same year and caused a furious collapse in the crypto market.
The sentencing in the federal Mashinsky court in Manhattan will take place on May 8.
Prosecutors said that Mashinsky falsified Celsius’ profitability and exposed clients’ funds to the risk of unsecured loans and undisclosed market rates. At the same time, the company advertised itself as a modern bank where people could safely place crypto assets and receive interest. Mashynsky has already admitted that he defrauded customers from 2018 to 2022. He also admitted to illegally manipulating the price of the native Celsius token and selling CEL coins at inflated prices to pocket about $48 million.
The defense blamed Celsius’s bankruptcy on the catastrophic decline of the crypto market in May and June 2022.
By the way, the founder of the FTX crypto exchange Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud.
Source: AP
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