financemagnates.com
Reportedly, Yaron Shalem, the Chief Financial Officer at Celsius, was among the seven people arrested in Tel Aviv this month. Following the arrest, Celsius announced recently that it has suspended the ‘involved employee’ and the arrest has nothing to do with his time or work at Celsius.
The latest arrest by the Israeli authorities was related to a massive crypto fraud. In addition to Shalem, several other leading names, including crypto mogul Moshe Hogeg, were also arrested during the same crackdown.
According to the reports, Shalem’s arrest is mainly related to his previous job at Singulariteam, where he served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Hogeg was the founder and Chairman of Singulariteam Ltd. While Celsius didn’t mention the exact name of the arrested employee, it has cleared that no company assets were misplaced or mishandled.
“We were recently made aware of a police investigation in Israel involving an employee. While this is in no way related to the employee’s time or work at Celsius, the employee was immediately suspended. We have also verified that no assets were misplaced or mishandled. We stand by our strong principles and policies adhering to the highest standards of professionalism, compliance, and ethics. Celsius will continue to act in the best interest of our community, our customers, and our employees,” Celsius Tweeted.
Crypto Crackdown?
Authorities in Israel have increased their efforts against the use of digital assets in illegal activities like money laundering. According to a recent report published by Calcalist, Hogeg was allegedly arrested for defrauding investors and money laundering through cryptocurrencies. Earlier in October, Israeli authorities captured 26 citizens in a massive crypto fraud bust.
Shalem joined Celsius this year after spending more than 3 years at Sogur Currency as a CFO. Between 2014 and 2016, Shalem also worked as the Chief Financial Officer at Mobli, a social photo and video sharing platform.