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Lawyers at the U.S. Department of Justice have plenty of time to make discoveries, giving the legal team of former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky time to review relevant documents.
U.S. District Judge John Kertl said in a July 25 order that the period from July 25 to October 3 is excluded from the calculation of the Speedy Trial Act, a law that requires federal criminal trials to begin within 70 days of indictment. He cited the “amount of evidence” and “complexity of the lawsuit” against former CEO Celsius.
“The court has determined that the purposes of justice served by allowing continuation outweigh the best interests of the defendants and the public in a speedy trial,” Judge Keltl said.
The law requires prosecutors to disclose most information “material to either guilt or punishment” and “favorable to the defendant” to Mr. Mashinsky’s legal team, and at the Oct. 3 press conference, Mr. Mashinsky will appear in a New York court just a day after the start of the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman Freed, who was indicted in the same district.
Related: What Criminal Charges Against Former CEO of Celsius Means for the Crypto Industry
Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022, weeks after the platform announced it would suspend all withdrawals without providing a final timeline for its return. Mashinsky will step down as CEO in September 2022.
On July 13, U.S. authorities arrested Mr. Mashinsky on charges of securities fraud, commodity fraud, and wire fraud, alleging that he deceived and misled customers about certain information about Celsius’ business practices. The former Celsius CEO pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released after posting $40 million bail.
A judge has yet to set a trial date for the former CEO Celsius’ criminal case. The fraud allegations were made in parallel with charges filed against Masinski by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed its own civil lawsuit against the former CEO, and the Federal Trade Commission announced in July that it had fined Celsius $4.7 billion.
magazine: XRP Is Not A Security, Celsius CEO Arrested On Criminal Charges, More: Hodler’s Digest, July 9-15
