Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The former CEO of the fallen Celsius crypto lending company, Alex Mashinsky, and the company’s chief revenue officer, Roni Cohen-Pavon, have been arrested on charges of committing securities fraud, according to Bloomberg. On Thursday, the Justice Department unsealed charges against Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon for inflating the price of Celsius’ crypto token, called CEL, while lying to Celsius customers about the token, their activities, and the company’s overall health.
The DOJ claims Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon “illicitly manipulated the price of CEL,” causing investors to buy the token at inflated prices. The DOJ claims that selling their tokens, even as Mashinsky told Celsius customers he wasn’t selling, pulled in $42 million for…
