Las Vegas Journal | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
A New York federal jury convicted a Puerto Rican man Thursday of a $110 million scheme that was the Justice Department’s first-ever cryptocurrency open market manipulation case, prosecutors said.
The man, Avraham Eisenberg, 28, of San Juan, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on charges of wire fraud, commodity fraud and commodity manipulation.
Prosecutors said Eisenberg fraudulently obtained approximately $110 million in cryptocurrency from the Mango Markets exchange and its clients by artificially and significantly inflating the price of futures contracts and the MNGO crypto token, then borrowing cryptocurrency based on inflated asset value.
“When Eisenberg borrowed and withdrew this cryptocurrency, he did not intend to repay the borrowed funds but rather to steal those funds,” the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement upon his February 2023 indictment .
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Moments ago, Avraham Eisenberg was convicted by a unanimous jury in the first-ever cryptocurrency market manipulation case. »
“This unprecedented prosecution embodies this office’s ability to employ innovative methods and cutting-edge law enforcement tools to continue to protect all financial markets,” Williams said.
Eisenberg is scheduled to be sentenced July 29 in Manhattan federal court.
This is developing news. Check back for updates.
cnbc
