- Celsius customers want the platform’s ex-CEO to be “incarcerated for life”
- The customers argue that the ex-CEO, Alex Mashinsky, destroyed their lives
- Mashinsky is set to be sentenced on May 8
Celsius customers want the crypto lending platform’s ex-CEO, Alex Mashinsky, to be “incarcerated for life,” claiming he destroyed their lives. The customers delivered their wishes to John G. Koeltl, a U.S. district judge, with hopes that the judge would consider their views in Mashinsky’s sentencing on May 8. According to the customers, Mashinsky caused them to suffer unexplainable losses when Celsius collapsed in 2022, taking down $4.7 billion in users’ funds with it.
Celsius Customers Committed Suicide?
According to Decrypt, one of the customers, Brandon Lawrence, said that some Celsius users committed suicide after losing their funds. Lawrence added that Mashinsky should face the same fate as Bernie Madoff, a financial criminal sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009 for being the mastermind of a $64-billion Ponzi scheme.
Another Celsius customer, Bryan Barrett, said that Mashinsky should be given the severest sentence to discourage others from breaching the trust that users bestow on them. He also said that a harsh sentence will help “restore faith in our justice system.”
Mashinsky admitted to orchestrating multi-billion-dollar fraud and market manipulation schemes in December last year. According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Southern District of New York, the Celsius executive “lured ordinary, retail crypto investors into investing billions of dollars in Celsius with false promises.”
Mashinsky Asks for Mercy
Mashinsky has, on the other hand, asked the court to show mercy during sentencing. He told the court to give him another chance “to make it right.” The ex-Celsius CEO faces up to 30 years in prison.
The customers’ move comes a year after the crypto lender revealed it had exited bankruptcy and is working on returning funds to affected creditors.
With Mashinsky’s charges carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years, it’s to be seen how the court will react to the customers’ pleas.
