This is when Alex Mashinsky will appear in court on charges of fraud and market manipulation

Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius, is scheduled to appear in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 13.

He faces several serious charges including securities fraud, commodity fraud, wire fraud and market manipulation.

The judge orders Mashinsky to present arguments to the court

According to an Oct. 23 document, Judge John Koeltl has ordered Mashinsky and prosecutors in the case to present arguments on their motion to dismiss certain counts of their indictment and “preserve testimony.”

In addition to the Nov. 13 hearing, a pretrial conference has been set for Jan. 16, with a jury trial scheduled to begin on Jan. 28, 2025.

The next court appearance follows a motion by the former CEO’s legal team in September. The filing called for the testimony of six witnesses who reside outside the United States, including former Celsius chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon.

Mashinsky’s lawyers argue that these people ignored their instructions to sell Celsius’ native token, CEL, instead of buying additional tokens on the FTX exchange during 2021.

This will be the 59-year-old’s first court appearance since February, when he attended a Curcio hearing related to possible conflicts of interest because his lawyers also represented FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in a separate case.

Legal charges

Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon are accused of manipulating CEL’s price while secretly selling their stakes at inflated prices. The former reportedly earned approximately $42 million from the sale of these tokens.

The two also allegedly misled clients about the success and profitability of the company and the nature of the investments made with client funds.

In July 2023, the former head of Celsius was arrested and charged with seven crimes. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently fighting them in court. It also faces civil lawsuits filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Cohen-Pavon, meanwhile, initially pleaded not guilty but later changed her plea to guilty and is scheduled for sentencing on December 11. After his arrest, he faced travel restrictions that limited his movement between New York and Israel.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. As of August 2024, the company had repaid approximately $2.53 billion owed to creditors. According to a filing, the figure represents about 84% of the $3 billion the defunct crypto platform needs to pay back more than 375,000 claimants.

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