Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Faces 115 Years in Prison, Seeks Testimony from Six Ex-Employees

Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky is facing a potential sentence of over 100 years in prison. His lawyers recently filed a memorandum with the New York District Court requesting the summoning of six former Celsius employees to testify on his behalf. These witnesses include Celsius' former CFO and Chief Revenue Officer.

Alex Mashinsky was arrested last year on charges of defrauding customers and misleading the public about Celsius' profitability. According to information provided by his lawyers, sentencing guidelines could lead to a potential sentence of 115 years for Alex Mashinsky.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and ceased operations in 2023. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Celsius and Alex Mashinsky in July 2023, accusing them of raising billions of dollars through fraudulent and unregistered cryptocurrency sales. The SEC also alleges that they repeatedly concealed Celsius' true financial status from investors while manipulating the price of its native token CEL.

Alex Mashinsky's defense lawyers claim that he did not intentionally harm anyone and emphasize that as CEO, he relied on information provided by professional teams.

According to The Block link, Alex Mashinsky's lawyers have listed former Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon as one of the key witnesses. Cohen-Pavon reportedly pleaded guilty to related charges last year. Alex Mashinsky's lawyers state that Cohen-Pavon and other employees disobeyed Alex Mashinsky's instructions regarding the sale of CEL tokens and instead decided to purchase more CEL tokens without informing him.

Prosecutors allege that Alex Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon jointly manipulated the price of CEL tokens by spending millions of dollars to buy CEL and support its price, then profited from it. Alex Mashinsky's lawyers argue that Cohen-Pavon had provided legal advice to Celsius regarding the buying and selling of CEL tokens, making him a key witness in the price manipulation allegations.

Furthermore, Alex Mashinsky's lawyers also refer to Celsius' weekly "Ask Mashinsky Anything" live events, which were intended to update Celsius customers about the company's progress. The lawyers state that the company's legal and risk teams reviewed and edited the content of these events, with many changes not being communicated to Alex Mashinsky. They suggest that any inaccuracies in Alex Mashinsky's statements were not intentional deceptions but rather misrepresentations.

Alex Mashinsky's defense lawyers emphasize that he always expected the company's professional team to correct any potential errors during the review process, indicating that he acted in good faith and was not involved in fraudulent activity. However, the lawyers claim that these modifications and corrections were "almost always made without Mr. Alex Mashinsky's knowledge".