coindesk.com
The punishments of Alexander Mashinsky, the imprisoned former chief of Celsius until its high-profile collapse, continue with a formal banishment from any ability to seek business with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission or the trading it oversees.
The derivatives regulator didn't pile any new fines onto Mashinsky, who previously pleaded guilty to accusations he misled the public about the health of his failing crypto firm as it was imploding, but the agency added an expected registration and trading ban, according to a Thursday statement. That's a minor addition to the 12-year prison sentence imposed in his criminal case, in which he pleaded guilty to fraud, was hit with a $50,000 fine and ordered to return $48 million.
The CFTC's arrangement, which “permanently restrained, enjoined and prohibited” him from any commodities activity, has been recorded in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to the filing, and was approved by a judge on Thursday, the court docket shows.
"Mashinsky and Celsius engaged in a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of customers by misrepresenting the safety, profitability, and regulatory compliance of Celsius’ digital asset-based finance platform," the CFTC said in a statement. In the widespread collapse of the crypto industry in 2022, "while continuing to tell its customers their assets were safe and earning rewards, Celsius suffered devastating losses."
Celsius was among the prominent firms collapsing within close proximity of each other, amplifying the destruction of that period.
Read More: Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Fraud