On July 13, the crypto-verse experienced a multitude of significant events. While this day marked an important day for the XRP community, it brought less joy to Celsius Network. The crypto lending platform, along with its former CEO Alex Mashinsky, faced a series of fraud allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]. Nevertheless, Mashinsky chose to enter a plea of not guilty in response to these charges.
The former CEO of the crypto lending platform confronted a series of seven criminal charges, involving counts such as securities fraud, commodities fraud, and wire fraud. These allegations were outlined in an unveiled indictment that became public knowledge on Thursday. Shortly after this announcement, news of his arrest emerged. Mashinsky appeared at his arraignment in a federal court located in Manhattan. US lawyer Damian Williams said in a recent press conference,
“Whether it’s old-school fraud or some new-school crypto scheme, it doesn’t matter one bit. It’s all fraud to us.”
Also Read: Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Arrested
Celsius, Mashinsky faces a slew of accusations
It is important to mention that earlier this year, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Mashinsky. In her filing, she alleged that he was involved in a fraudulent scheme that aimed to deceive hundreds of thousands of investors. Furthermore, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Trade Commission also brought lawsuits against Mashinsky and his company. They accused them of promoting Celsius as a secure platform. Celsius in its email marketing campaigns featured phrases such as “Pour Yourself a Cup of Profits” and “Profits in your Pocket” to promote its interest-earning program.
In the midst of these developments, an interview with Mashinsky conducted by Reuters in January 2021 started to resurface. In the interview, he refuted allegations of misleading customers and artificially inflating the value of his company’s proprietary crypto token. He even said,
“Behind all of this, there is a community of millions of people, hundreds of millions of people who actually is focused on building the future of finance and making sure that that will be acting in your best interest.”
Also Read: Celsius Network & Its Former CEO Face SEC Lawsuit