Guilty verdict reached in $110M Mango Markets fraud case

A jury of crypto community members has determined that the hacker known to the community as Avraham “Avi” Eisenberg is guilty of fraud and market manipulation, which led to the loss of $110 million in the notorious Mango Markets decentralized exchange incident.

Eisenberg found guilty

In an 18th April verdict by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, a group of jurors unanimously agreed that Eisenberg’s guilty plea, which included wire fraud, commodities fraud, and manipulation, was found true. The conclusion came hours after deliberations, to make the final decision following closing arguments on April 17.

Eisenberg and the legal team charged in their two-week trial claimed that Eisenberg had not perhaps committed any offense but succeeded only in legal trading, which cost Mango Markets about USD 110 million. 

After the hack, he returned approximately $67 million to the ledger. However, he retained more than $40 million after the community held a governance vote. The judge can probably sentence Eisenberg to up to 20 years in prison. Although prosecutors insist that Eisenberg’s fraud charges should be proven, the date this conviction will take place is still unclear. He was arrested in Puerto Rico in December 2022 and has been in the custody of the US since January 2023.

Ongoing crackdown on crypto-related crimes

Most often, verdicts in criminal trials precede enforcement actions, such as civil litigations, brought forth by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which might be in the cards for Mr. Eisenberg in 2023. 

Now, each of these criminal cases has been extended and will resume two weeks after the conclusion of the criminal trial. Consequently, the U.S. authorities are taking proceedings against people of high standing in the crypto-space. In March, a federal judge set Bankman-Fried’s minimum sentence to 25 years in prison after his conviction on seven felony charges, while his lawyers were advised that they were intent on appealing. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is pinned to receive his sentence from April 30 upon his plea.