Alex Mashinsky to Appear in Court on Charges of Fraud and Market Manipulation

CoinWorld reported:
Former CEO of Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, plans to appear in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 13th.
He faces multiple serious charges, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and market manipulation.
The judge has ordered Mashinsky to present arguments in court.
According to the filing on October 23rd, Judge John Koeltl has ordered Mashinsky and the prosecutors in this case to present arguments regarding the motion to dismiss certain charges and “reserve testimony.”
In addition to the hearing on November 13th, a pretrial conference is scheduled for January 16th, and jury trial is set to begin on January 28th, 2025.
Prior to his upcoming court appearance, the former CEO’s legal team filed a motion in September requesting testimony from six witnesses residing outside the United States, including former Chief Tax Officer of Celsius, Roni Cohen Pavon.
Mashinsky’s lawyers argue that these individuals disregarded his instructions to sell Celsius’ native token CEL and instead purchased additional tokens on the FTX exchange throughout 2021.
This will be the 59-year-old man’s first personal appearance since February.
The attendance of the Curcio hearing raises potential conflicts of interest as his lawyer also represents Sam Bankman Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, in another case.
Mashinsky and Cohen Pavon are accused of manipulating the price of CEL and secretly selling their holdings at inflated prices. It is reported that the former profited approximately $42 million from these token sales.
It is alleged that both individuals also misled clients about the company’s success and profitability, as well as the nature of investments made using customer funds.
In July 2023, the former boss of Celsius was arrested and charged with seven felonies. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently fighting them in court. He also faces civil lawsuits filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Meanwhile, Cohen Pavon initially pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea and is scheduled for sentencing on December 11th. Following his arrest, he is subject to travel restrictions, limiting his movement between New York and Israel.
Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. As of August 2024, the company has repaid approximately $2.53 billion to its creditors. According to a filing, this amount represents around 84% of the $3 billion owed to over 375,000 claimants from the collapsed cryptocurrency platform.