No!
Judge Rejects
Former Celsius CEO’s Attempt
To Dismiss Fraud Charges
No! Judge Rejects Former Celsius CEO’s Attempt To Dismiss Fraud Charges
by Christian Encila
4 minutes ago
in Crypto News
0
A former executive of a now-defunct cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта firm, Celsius Network, will
have to continue to face his legal battle as a US federal court denied his
motion to dismiss the charges against him.
It might seem only like a legal battle of a former crypto CEO but in the
greater scheme of things, it’s a reflection of the saga of the government’s
scrutiny on the digital currency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта industry.
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High
Motion Denied
The ex-CEO of Celsius Network, Alex Mashinsky , failed to convince a US
federal judge to drop two counts of criminal charges against him relating to
the manipulation of crypto prices and fraud.
Judge Rejects Ex-Celsius CEO’s Attempt to Drop Fraud Charges
The latest twist in the Celsius saga: Alex Mashinsky, former CEO of Celsius,
just had his motion to dismiss key charges thrown out by a federal judge.
Mashinsky, who faces seven charges, tried to argue that two of…
pic.twitter.com/oEa3SkFdHe
— IBC Group Official (@ibcgroupio) November 11, 2024
Judge John Koeltl of the US District Court for the Southern District of New
York rejected Mashinsky’s motion asking the court to dismiss the two raps
against him. Thus, Mashinsky will continue to face the seven complaints in
relation to his role in Celsius in January 2025 a setback that made it
inevitable for Mashinsky to defend himself in court when the trial started.
Koeltl ruled that the crypto exec’s arguments to drop the cases were “either
moot or without merit.”
Mashinsky’s Argument
Mashinsky’s lawyers argued that their client cannot be charged with violations
of the Commodity Exchange Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, saying
the court is charging the former CEO with two charges for the same conduct.
Source: US District Court for the Southern District of New York
However, Koeltl disagreed with their argument, saying a conviction on
violating the Securities Exchange Act would not mean that Mahinsky would be
acquitted of violating the Commodity Exchange Act.
Mahinsky also claimed that the commodities charge is “legally insufficient”,
explaining that the state prosecutors failed to sufficiently allege that the
platform’s investors were depositing Bitcoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Bitcoin into a program that offered a
weekly reward scheme. The federal judge argued that this argument is a factual
question that “cannot be resolved” at this point in the case.
BTCUSD trading at $86,340 on the daily chart: TradingView.com
Koeltl also denied Mashinsky’s motion to dismiss market manipulation charges,
saying it is “meritless”. The judge added that the US Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit has already ruled before that “open-market transactions that
are not inherently manipulative may constitute manipulative activity when
accompanied by manipulative intent.”
Celsius: Legal Woes
Celsius used to be a prominent crypto platform in the industry. Unfortunately,
the firm collapsed in 2022 following the freezing of customer withdrawals. The
company also filed for bankruptcy amidst the huge balance sheet deficit.
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He’s Wrong
As a result, the SEC charged Mashinsky with fraud and manipulating the market
which caused the collapse of the crypto firm.
State authorities said that the crypto CEO deceived the investors and claimed
that CEL, the firm’s coin, was safer than it was.
If convicted of all the seven charges, Mashinsky could spend 115 years in
state prison. The former CEO has not yet pleaded not guilty to these charges.
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