New court documents show authorities have seized assets and a home belonging to Alex Mashinksy, the former CEO of bankrupt crypto lending company Celsius.
According to an unsealed court order, several bank accounts and a Texas home belonging to Mashinksy have been seized while the Department of Justice (DOJ) continues the criminal case against Celsius.
The document shows that Mashinksy’s accounts of Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, First Republic and SoFi were frozen by the court, as well as a home in Austin, Texas that was purchased in July 2021.
Although the order was originally issued on August 16, it was not released until August 31 to avoid third-party interference.
Mashinsky was originally arrested in July and charged with multiple counts of fraud along with Roni Cohen-Pavon, Celsius Chief Revenue Officer, after they were charged with perpetrating schemes involving CEL, Celsius Network’s proprietary asset.
The duo are accused of misleading customers into believing that Celsius operated as a “modern day bank” where investors can earn interest on deposited digital assets. Instead, however, they would have engaged in risky leveraged trades with their funds.
Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon are also accused of manipulating the price of CEL, which in turn led traders to buy it at a high price, a move that benefited the defendants financially.
Charges against the duo include banking fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud and market manipulation. If convicted, the defendants risk decades behind bars.
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Featured image: Shutterstock/Natalya Yudina