Former Celsius Revenue Chief Gets Time Served Following Fraud Conviction
The one-time chief revenue officer of Celsius has been handed a light sentence following his 2023 admission of guilt to charges of fraud and conspiring to manipulate prices.
A federal judge in the United States has handed down a sentence of time served to the one-time chief revenue officer of the now-collapsed Celsius cryptocurrency lending platform, nearly three years after he was taken into custody on charges related to fraud and conspiracy.
During sentencing proceedings held on Wednesday at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge John Koeltl determined that Roni Cohen-Pavon would receive a sentence of time served along with one year of supervised release for his involvement in the manipulation of Celsius's CEL token price and fraudulent activities on the platform.
Following his September 2023 arrest, the former chief revenue officer entered an initial plea of not guilty to the four charges he faced, but reversed course to plead guilty approximately one week afterward.
The indictment brought against Cohen-Pavon in July 2023 also named former CEO Alex Mashinsky, coming after Celsius's 2022 implosion that resulted in investor and user losses totaling billions of dollars.
As an Israeli citizen and resident, Cohen-Pavon was located outside of the United States at the time prosecutors filed their indictment, though he subsequently returned to the country for his arraignment. Following the posting of a $500,000 bond in September 2023, he has been permitted to travel subject to certain limitations.
The sentencing of Cohen-Pavon, along with that of Mashinsky, who is currently serving out a 12-year sentence after entering a guilty plea, marks the gradual conclusion of the criminal proceedings related to Celsius. The former CEO received an order to pay $48 million in forfeiture as part of his criminal case, whereas Cohen-Pavon consented to pay over $1 million in addition to a $40,000 fine.
Whatever sentence the Court imposes, the deeper obligation will remain the same. I will have to spend the rest of my life becoming, through my conduct, the husband, father, and man my family had every right to expect from me all along.
Roni Cohen-Pavon in a letter to Judge Koeltl before his sentencing
Co-founder of Tornado Cash still faces potential SDNY retrial
Roman Storm, who co-founded the cryptocurrency mixing service known as Tornado Cash, continues to face the prospect of a retrial on two charges in the Southern District of New York following a jury's inability to reach a verdict during his trial last year.
The prosecution has asked a judge to set proceedings for October to retry Storm on charges of money laundering conspiracy and sanctions violation conspiracy, both of which resulted in a deadlocked jury.
Storm's $2 million bail comes with conditions that limit the Tornado Cash co-founder's movements to specific regions of New York, Washington and California. On Thursday, however, a federal judge authorized him to "attend his niece's high school graduation" taking place in El Dorado Hills, California.