The District Court of New York decided to freeze the assets of the former CEO of the crypto-lending platform Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, while the criminal case against him is being considered.
We are talking about bank accounts in Goldman Sachs, opened for the company Koala LLC, and residential real estate in Austin, Texas.
The court order, issued on August 16, was made public only now, fearing that the accounts could be emptied to the point of being actually frozen.
In January 2023, the New York Attorney General’s Office accused Mashinsky of defrauding investors “for billions of dollars.” The former CEO of Celsius was arrested in July.
In the same month, the US Department of Justice brought seven more criminal charges against him and the platform, including securities fraud, price manipulation of the CEL token, misleading investors, and conspiracy to defraud customers.
Also joined the cause SEC And CFTC.
Mashinsky pleaded not guilty to any of the charges. He was later released on $40 million bail.
Recall that in June 2022, Celsius suspended withdrawals, exchanges and transfers between accounts “due to extreme market conditions.”
After filing for bankruptcy, Celsius reported a $1.2 billion “hole” in its balance sheet. In August, it became known that the company’s liabilities exceeded its assets by $2.85 billion.
In September, Alex Mashinsky stepped down as CEO.
Celsius’ creditors are now voting on the sale of the group’s digital assets to the Fahrenheit consortium. In case of a successful transaction, customers can expect a refund of up to 85% of the funds.
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press CTRL+ENTER
ForkLog Newsletters: Keep your finger on the pulse of the bitcoin industry!