Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Pleads Not Guilty, Bail Set At $40 Million

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Jai Pratap

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Jai Pratap

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Jai serves as the Asia Desk Editor for Cryptonews.com, where he leads a diverse team of international reporters. Jai has over five years of experience covering the web3 industry.

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July 14, 2023 12:16 EDT

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A U.S. District Judge has set the bail for the former CEO of Celsius Alex Mashinsky at $40 million. 

Mashinsky pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges that he artificially inflated the value of CEL token and misled the customers after he was arrested Thursday.

As per the court documents, the CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network is set to be released from jail after agreeing to meet the bail amount of $40 million in personal recognizance bond, which will be signed by his wife and one other person today. 

The $40 million bond is secured by a financial claim on Mashinsky’s New York City residence and a bank account.

He will also submit his travel documents to authorities and can not travel outside New York for the time being.  

The District Court also prohibited the Celsius co-founder from opening any new financial, business, or personal bank accounts, lines of credit, or cryptocurrency accounts, without the prior approval of Pretrial Services.

Celsius Co-Founder And Former CEO Denies All Allegations 

Mashinsky was arrested on Thursday after facing seven criminal charges, including securities fraud, wire fraud, and commodities fraud.

Celsius’ chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, was also charged with artificially inflating the price of the network’s native toke CEL.

An official from the Criminal Division of the New York Field Office said in a press conference Thursday that Mashisnky allegedly earned more than $40 million by manipulating the price of the platform’s native token. 

The former CEO has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His lawyers said in a statement that he looks forward to vigorously defending himself in the court against these baseless charges. 

Mashinsky Faces Lawsuit From Three Federal Agencies

Alex Mashinsky’s indictment was accompanied by lawsuits from US Securities Exchange (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Earlier this year, New York Attorney General Letitia James also filed a lawsuit against Mashinsky for allegedly misleading its investors regarding the company’s financials before the bankruptcy. 

The US SEC is accusing Celsius and Mashinsky of committing securities fraud as the financial regulator claims that CEL and Celsius’ Earn product constituted securities.

In a separate lawsuit, CFTC accused the bankrupt crypto lended of violating federal commodities regulations.

The commodity regulators also accuse the firm of committing fraud as it failed to register as a Commodity Pool Operator and provide relevant disclosure documents.