A federal judge has approved a joint request from lawyers for Alex Mashinsky and the United States Department of Justice modifying the former Celsius CEO’s bail conditions to include electronic monitoring.
In an Aug. 8 filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Gabriel Gorenstein signed off on a modification to Mashinsky’s $40-million bond ensured by his brokerage account at First Republic Bank and his New York home. Prosecutors and defense lawyers jointly signed a request to have Mashinsky under electronic monitoring and be restricted from withdrawing, transferring or receiving more than $10,000 without prior approval from the court. The bail modification would remove the need to use Mashinsky’s First Republic account to ensure the bond.
Following a motion from prosecutors with the consent of Mashinsky’s legal team, Judge John Koeltl ordered on Aug. 9 that most of the trial materials not publicly available could not be disclosed by any involved party, specifically mentioning social media posts on Facebook or Twitter (now X). The order included concerns about information being released that could lead to witnesses being intimidated.
Mashinsky, who was the CEO of the crypto lending platform Celsius Network until September 2022, faces charges of securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud for allegedly misleading and defrauding users. Following his arrest on July 13, he pleaded not guilty to all counts and was largely not allowed to travel as part of his bail conditions.
It’s unclear what form of electronic monitoring Mashinsky could have. The bail condition often comes with a wrist or ankle monitor that alerts authorities to a subject’s location at all times. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is under similar restrictions, but also largely confined to his parents’ California home.
Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022, prior to Mashinsky’s departure. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission later filed civil cases against the platform and former CEO, with the Federal Trade Commission fining Celsius $4.7 billion for “duping” users.
Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former chief revenue officer of the lending platform and Israeli citizen, faces similar charges for his alleged involvement in activities at Celsius. However, at the time of Mashinsky’s arrest, he was not in U.S. custody.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has reversed his decision to quit the party, saying “the mission is too important” and that he “cannot let people down”.
Instead, he said he will return in a new role, heading up an Elon Musk-inspired “UK DOGE” team.
In a statement, he said: “Over the last 24 hours I have received a huge number of lovely and heartfelt messages from people who have expressed their dismay at my resignation, urging me to reconsider.”
He added: “I know the mission is too important and I cannot let people down.
“So, I will be continuing my work with Reform, my commitment redoubled.”
Mr Yusuf said he would be returning in a new role, seemingly focusing on cuts and efficiency within government.
He said he would “fight for taxpayers”.
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Mr Yusuf’s initial decision to quit came after he publicly distanced himself from the party’s new MP, Sarah Pochin, when she asked Sir Keir Starmer about banning the burka at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Reform said a ban was not party policy – and the chairman called it a “dumb” thing to ask.
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DOGE is a meme-coin inspired creation of Musk’s, standing for the Department of Government Efficiency.
It is the latest right-wing US import into British politics.
Before his public fallout with Donald Trump, the tech billionaire said his focus was saving taxpayers’ money by locating wasteful spending within government and cutting it.
However, opposition politicians questioned the impact of his efforts and how much he actually saved.
Musk initially had ambitions to slash government spending by $2trn (£1.5trn) – but this was dramatically reduced to $1trn (£750bn) and then to just $150bn (£111bn).
Allegations on the president’s ties to the crypto industry and claims of “Trump derangement syndrome” clouded attempts to reach an agreement on a market structure bill in Congress.