Mogul Crypto Alex Mashinsky sentenced to 12 years in prison for billions of dollars Celsius

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former chief executive of the bankruptcy of the Cryotocurrency Celsius Network lender, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty in December of securities and goods fraud.

Mashinsky’s sentence was imposed by John Koeltl John John Judge in Manhattan, and is among the longest in a criminal case resulting from the 2022 merger in Cryptocurrency markets.

Sam Bankman-Fried, who led the FTX exchange, is serving a prison sentence 25 years after being sentenced to fraud. He is attractive.

Federal prosecutors said Mashinsky, 59, misled clients for Celsius security and artificially inflated the value of the Celsius owner’s sign.

They demanded a prison for at least 20 years, calling it “just punishment” for Mashinsky who had victimized thousands of people and caused billions of dollars losses while drawing more than $ 48 million personal benefits.

“The case for the tokenization and use of digital assets is strong, but it is not a license to deceive,” said Atttorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan in a state.

Mashinsky demanded a year and a day in prison, saying he felt remorse and wanted to do the right from his family and former Celsius clients. His sentence includes three years of supervised release and a $ 48.4 million confiscation.

Lawyers for Mashinsky were not immediately available to comment.

Founded in 2017, Hoboken, Celsius based in one, presented to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022 after customers rushed to withdraw deposits as they fell Cryptocurrency prices.

Born in Ukraine, Mashinsky emigrated with his family to Israel and moved to New York after visiting the city in 1988.

Cryptocurrency lenders have promised easy access to high interest loans and rates for depositors while borrowing signs for institutional investors, hoping to benefit from change.

Celsius offered 17% interest in some deposits, but had a balance sheet of $ 1.19 billion when he sought bankruptcy protection.

Mashinsky has also faced civil lawsuits by the Insurance and Exchange Commission, the Future Future Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the New York General Prosecutor General Letitia James.