Alex Mashinsky set to appear in court for fraud charges

Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius (CRYPTO:CEL), is scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 13, marking his first in-person court appearance since February.  

Mashinsky faces several serious charges, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and market manipulation. 

According to an October 23 filing, Judge John Koeltl has ordered both Mashinsky and prosecutors to present arguments regarding his motion to dismiss specific charges.  

The hearing will also address the preservation of witness testimonies.  

A pretrial conference is scheduled for January 16, 2025, and the jury trial is set to begin on January 28, 2025.  

The upcoming court session follows a motion filed by Mashinsky’s legal team in September, which sought testimony from six witnesses located outside the United States.  

This group includes former Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon.  

Mashinsky’s lawyers claim that these individuals disregarded his instructions by purchasing additional CEL tokens on the FTX (CRYPTO:FTT) exchange instead of selling them.  

This court hearing comes after Mashinsky’s February appearance at a Curcio hearing, which focused on potential conflicts of interest.  

His legal representation at the time also represented FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in a separate case.  

Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon are accused of manipulating the price of Celsius’s native token, CEL, and misleading customers about the company’s financial status.  

Mashinsky reportedly gained approximately $42 million from these alleged activities.  

Cohen-Pavon initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty, with sentencing set for December 11.

Mashinsky has pleaded not guilty to all charges and faces additional civil suits from the SEC and CFTC.  

Meanwhile, Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, and as of August 2024, the company had repaid $2.53 billion of its $3 billion debt to over 375,000 claimants.

At the time of reporting, the Celsius Network price was $0.2618.