Roni Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the Celsius network, including manipulating the price of the exchange’s CEL token.
Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former chief revenue officer of now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius Network, has pleaded guilty to U.S. criminal charges related to the crypto lending network’s collapse last year.
Reuters reported this morning that Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty to four charges, including manipulating the price of the exchange’s token, CEL.
Cohen-Pavon and former CEO and co-founder Alex Mashinsky were charged in July with market manipulation and wire fraud for artificially inflating the value of CEL, according to court documents.
Implementation
The case is part of a slew of charges against key figures in the cryptocurrency lending industry. As cryptocurrency prices soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, crypto lenders such as Celsius grew rapidly, promising savers easy loans and attractive interest rates, and offering token loans to institutional investors, aiming to profit from the difference.
However, by 2022, a massive customer withdrawal and a sharp drop in cryptocurrency prices caused crypto lenders such as Celsius and FTX to close due to their failure to meet these demands. However, Mashinsky reportedly withdrew $10 million from the company just weeks before its bankruptcy.
Mashinsky also faces civil fraud charges filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who "vigorously" denies the allegations and intends to fight them in court. He was released on $40 million bail following his arrest in July.
Cohen-Pavin and Mashinsky aren’t the only high-profile crypto industry figures facing criminal or civil charges. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and former Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon are both facing criminal charges from the Department of Justice, while the SEC has filed dozens of lawsuits against various players and projects, including major industry players such as Binance and Coinbase.
Cohen-Pavon’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 11, 2024, marking an important date in the ongoing legal battle against key figures in the crypto lending industry.
