Elsewhere in the last remaining crypto crime cases we may see for a while, it seems Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky might be trying to weasel out of responsibility for the crimes to which he’s pleaded guilty. His sentencing is scheduled for a month from now.
![Alex Mashinsky
Prosecutors are seeking further action from the court regarding factual disputes pertaining to the conduct of Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius who pleaded guilty to fraud and market manipulation in December [I71]. It’s not entirely clear what the disputes entail, as the government’s letter was filed under seal,9 but it seems that the government feels Mashinsky is trying to deny responsibility for actions stipulated in his plea agreement. An unsealed response letter10 from Mashinsky’s defense quotes a portion of the prosecutors’ letter, where they allege Mashinsky is “distancing himself from the stipulations in the plea agreement”. Mashinsky’s lawyers write that, “The parties certainly dispute the nature and circumstances of Mr. Mashinsky’s offense, and whether, for example, he knowingly misrepresented Celsius’s profitability to customers or engaged in a conspiracy with Roni Cohen Pavon (and others) to manipulate the price of CEL token,” but argue that it is not material to his sentencing.
At least according to Mashinsky’s lawyers, prosecutors are looking for the judge to either resolve factual disputes regarding Mashinsky’s conduct in the government’s favor, or conduct a two-week hearing in which both parties can present evidence for evaluation in his sentencing. Mashinsky’s lawyers don’t want either of these things, and want his sentencing to proceed as scheduled on May 8.](/proxy/post_attachment/475906/cfd17bed00.png "Alex Mashinsky
Prosecutors are seeking further action from the court regarding factual disputes pertaining to the conduct of Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius who pleaded guilty to fraud and market manipulation in December [I71]. It’s not entirely clear what the disputes entail, as the government’s letter was filed under seal,9 but it seems that the government feels Mashinsky is trying to deny responsibility for actions stipulated in his plea agreement. An unsealed response letter10 from Mashinsky’s defense quotes a portion of the prosecutors’ letter, where they allege Mashinsky is “distancing himself from the stipulations in the plea agreement”. Mashinsky’s lawyers write that, “The parties certainly dispute the nature and circumstances of Mr. Mashinsky’s offense, and whether, for example, he knowingly misrepresented Celsius’s profitability to customers or engaged in a conspiracy with Roni Cohen Pavon (and others) to manipulate the price of CEL token,” but argue that it is not material to his sentencing.
At least according to Mashinsky’s lawyers, prosecutors are looking for the judge to either resolve factual disputes regarding Mashinsky’s conduct in the government’s favor, or conduct a two-week hearing in which both parties can present evidence for evaluation in his sentencing. Mashinsky’s lawyers don’t want either of these things, and want his sentencing to proceed as scheduled on May 8.")
That and more in this week’s recap issue of Citation Needed, an independent publication entirely supported by readers like you. Consider signing up for a free or pay-what-you-want subscription — it really helps me to keep doing this work.
@molly0xfff In other major crypto-scam news, you may want to keep track of the $LIBRA scandal and new events unfolding:
https://mstdn.social/@laizquierdadiariorss@mastodon.social/114304265578299734
For those not in the know:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$Libra_cryptocurrency_scandal
Edited 72d ago