The former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency platform Celsus Network was charged with fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Thursday, as the company faces a number of separate lawsuits over the company’s collapse.
Alex Mashinsky, founder and CEO of crypto lender Celsius, was charged with fraud and sued by three ... [+]
Alex Mashinsky, co-founder of Celsius, was charged with seven counts including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the price of Celsisus’ token CEL, according to the indictment filed in federal court in New York.
Meanwhile, the company faces lawsuits from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.
The Federal Trade Commission alleges the company tricked consumers into transferring cryptocurrency onto the platform by ensuring deposits would be safe and available, and announced the company will be permanently banned from handling consumers assets.
Celsius’s other co-founders Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein as well as Mashinsky did not agree to a settlement in the FTC case and will go to federal court, the FTC said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Celsius Founder Mashinsky Hit With Fraud Suit By New York State (Forbes)