New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a complaint against Alex Mashinsky. The founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency savings platform Celsius has been accused of making “false and misleading statements” that caused billions of dollars in damages to investors.
As from the appropriate Message As of today, January 5, Mashinsky is said to have defrauded more than 26,000 Americans out of several billion worth of cryptocurrencies. In particular, the behavior of the CEO in the run-up to the next insolvency of Celsius is said to have caused the huge losses of investors, because during this period Mashinsky intentionally provided false information about the financial situation of the savings platform.
“As the former CEO of Celsius, Alex Mashinsky promised investors financial freedom, but only led them to financial ruin,” James snidely observes. The Attorney General adds, “The law is clear that false statements and false promises that mislead investors are illegal. Today, therefore, we are taking this action on behalf of all New Yorkers who have been defrauded by Mr. Mashinsky out of their funds.”
I’m suing the former CEO of the cryptocurrency platform @CelsiusNetwork for defrauding investors of billions of dollars.
Alex Mashinsky lied to people about the risks of investing in Celsius, covered up his deteriorating financial condition, and failed to register in New York.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 5, 2023
The purpose of the indictment is, among other things, that Alex Mashinsky “can no longer do business in New York” in the future and has to pay fines and damages to the injured Celsius investors.
Celsius suddenly filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, leaving many users in the cold as their crypto assets are temporarily inaccessible due to gaps in the savings platform’s books. Meanwhile, the responsible judge too decidedthat users’ crypto funds deposited in savings accounts must be assessed as the property of Celsius under the Terms of Service.
