According to BlockBeats news on May 9, reported by Coindesk, Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for crypto fraud, with two charges resulting in sentences of 120 months and 144 months (to be served concurrently for a total of 144 months). Alex Mashinsky has agreed to forfeit $48 million and multiple properties.
Before Celsius's collapse in 2022, Alex Mashinsky repeatedly lied to investors about the safety of customer deposits. Prosecutors pointed out that he falsely claimed the platform was regulatory approved, insisted that he never issued unsecured loans (which was the opposite), and profited personally by manipulating the price of the CEL token—illegally profiting over $48 million from CEL alone. Alex Mashinsky's negligence and self-serving behavior directly led to Celsius's bankruptcy, leaving a massive hole of $1.2 billion (approximately $7 billion at current prices) on the company's books.