Celsius founder and former CEO Alex Mashinsky faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, Mashinsky pleaded guilty Tuesday to committing commodities fraud for misleading customers about Celsius’s profitability and the nature of the investments the company made.
Mashinsky also pleaded guilty to committing securities fraud, illegally manipulating and artificially inflating the price of Celsius’s CEL token. The scheme allowed the 59-year-old to sell his own assets for a significant profit, netting him millions in profits.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams says Mashinsky orchestrated one of the biggest frauds in the crypto industry.
“He enticed ordinary, private crypto investors to invest billions of dollars in Celsius with false promises that their investments were low risk. With catchy slogans like “Unbank Yourself,” Mashinsky promised that Celsius would keep customers’ crypto as safe as money in a bank, but that unlike a bank, Celsius returned most of the profits from its business to users . In reality, Celsius was never profitable.”
Mashinsky will forfeit more than $48 million in proceeds from his schemes as part of the plea deal. Reuters reports that he has also agreed not to appeal a sentence of 30 years or less.
The verdict is set for April 8.
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