Avi Eisenberg, a crypto user who recently made the headlines for a $110 million exploit of the Mango Markets decentralized exchange, has been found guilty by a jury. Eisenberg faced charges bordering on wire fraud, commodities fraud, and market manipulation. However, after a 2-week long trial at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, he now awaits sentencing on July 29.
Mango Markets Exploiter’s Trial
During the trial, Eisenberg’s defense team argued that their client is not a criminal. The lawyers insisted that Eisenberg never set out to commit any crime but was merely able to pull a “successful and legal trading strategy.”
Interestingly, the strategy made him roughly $110 million from Mango Markets. Of the total amount he made from the exploit, Eisenberg returned $67 million in good faith. However, he also kept $40 million for himself after a governance vote by the community.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors claim that Eisenberg’s actions were nothing near a legal trading strategy. They say it constituted fraud, as they hoped to ensure that he bags a sentencing of, at least, 20 years in prison for his criminal offenses.
Judge Richard Berman is expected to hand over the sentence at the July 29 hearing.
Big Name Cases
It might be worth noting that the United States has been going after big names in the crypto industry, who were once perceived untouchable. To put the above statement into perspective, several criminal cases are currently ongoing that involve prominent personalities within the space.
As UEEx previously reported, a judge recently sentenced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison. Although his lawyers are getting ready to begin an appeal, Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is also in a mess. Zhao is another big name that has pleaded guilty to a one-count felony charge. He is expected to be sentenced on April 30.
With a verdict handed down in the criminal trial, Eisenberg will likely face civil enforcement actions filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2023. Both cases had been stayed and could resume two weeks after the conclusion of the criminal case.
