NEW YORK, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Roni Cohen-Pavon, a former executive at Alex Mashinsky’s bankrupt cryptocurrency finance company Celsius Networks, has pleaded guilty to U.S. criminal charges and will cooperate with prosecutors’ investigation. Agreed.
Cohen Pabon, former chief revenue officer of Celsius, pleaded guilty to four charges, including manipulating the price of the exchange’s crypto token Cel, during a hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan. was revealed in court records Thursday.
He agreed to assist the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan and the FBI in their investigation and testify in court if asked, according to copies of his documents. plea bargain Seen by Reuters.
The defendant and Mr. Mashinsky were each indicted in July on charges of market manipulation and wire fraud for allegedly artificially inflating the value of Celsius and converting personal stock holdings into cash before Celsius’ bankruptcy in July 2022. was.
Prosecutors said Mr. Mashinsky earned about $42 million from the sales. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $40 million bail.
Cohen-Pavon, an Israeli national, was overseas when the indictment was announced, said Damien Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan. He is free on $500,000 bail and may travel back and forth between New York and Israel.
Neither Mr. Cohen-Pavon’s lawyer nor a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan immediately responded to requests for comment. Mr. Mashinsky’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a similar request.
Crypto lenders such as Celsius have grown rapidly during the coronavirus pandemic as crypto prices soared. They promised easy lending access and eye-watering interest rates to depositors, then lent their tokens to institutional investors in hopes of profiting from the difference.
Celsius collapsed due to a series of customer withdrawals as cryptocurrency prices fell.
This was one of the earliest bankruptcies for several cryptocurrencies, including the FTX exchange, as prices plummeted while interest rates rose.
Williams’ office has also indicted several other crypto executives on fraud charges, including FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried, who has pleaded not guilty and faces trial on October 3.
According to Cohen-Pabon’s plea agreement, prosecutors may recommend that Koeltl consider his assistance at sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 11, 2024.
Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York.Editing: Chizu Nomiyama, David Holmes
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