NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - Alex Mashinsky, founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, pleaded not guilty Thursday to U.S. fraud charges that he misled customers and artificially inflated the value of his company's propriety crypto token.
Three federal regulatory agencies also sued Mashinsky and Celsius in connection with the case.
Mashinsky, 57, was charged with seven criminal counts - including securities fraud, commodities fraud and wire fraud - according to an indictment unsealed earlier on Thursday.
Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud last year, and has pleaded not guilty.
"Whether it's old-school fraud or some new-school crypto scheme, it doesn't matter one bit.
Persons:
Alex Mashinsky, Mashinsky, Sam Bankman, Fried, Ona Wang, Roni Cohen, Pavon, Cohen, Damian Williams, Williams, Hannah Lang, Luc Cohen, Chris Prentice, Elizabeth Howcroft, Chizu Nomiyama, Michelle Price, Jonathan Oatis
Organizations:
YORK, Prosecutors, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Futures Trading Commission, Federal Trade Commission, U.S, Thomson
Locations:
Manhattan, Israeli, U.S, Hoboken , New Jersey, Washington, New York, Bengaluru, London