Celsius was one of the crypto platforms that crashed last year.
On Tuesday, US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a sealed order to freeze the assets of Celsius former CEO, Alex Mashinsky and a Texas property co-owned by Kristine Mashinsky, the defendant’s wife.
DOJ to freeze Celsius former CEO assets
Newly unsealed court documents made available on Tuesday show that banking and real estate assets of former Celsius chief Alex Mashinsky have been ordered frozen as criminal charges proceed against him.
The court documents show that Mashinsky accounts in Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, First Republic Securities, SoFi Bank, and SoFi Securities have been sealed by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Mashinsky’s Texas property which he purchased with his wife, Kristine was also included in the order issued by Judge Jed Rakoff.
In July, Mashinsky was arrested by authorities on accusations of misleading investors and defrauding users of billions of dollars. He pleased not guilty on arraignment and was released on a $40M bail bond.
Also in July, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission both announced settlements with Celsius in response to Mashinsky’s criminal and civil allegations. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission fined Celsius $4.7B for allegedly duping users, but the judgement was stayed so that the platform could use the assets in its bankruptcy procedures.
Celsius was one of the crypto platforms that crashed last year. The DeFi lender promised investors huge returns and claimed to be safe. By late June 2022, it had stopped user withdrawals due to alleged extreme market conditions.
A month later, the lender filed for bankruptcy with documents showing that liabilities far outweigh assets by $1.2B.
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