US Seeks $1,070,000 Forfeiture From Ex-Celsius Executive Roni Cohen-Pavon Ahead of Sentencing

The U.S. government sought forfeiture of $1,070,000 from former Celsius executive Roni Cohen-Pavon ahead of his sentencing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to court filings cited by MEXC.

“A former executive of the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network has been released from custody after a U”

Bitcoin World

MEXC said the forfeiture represented proceeds traceable to Cohen-Pavon’s alleged crimes, with credit for funds held in Celsius that may be available through the platform’s bankruptcy process.

Bitcoin World

Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty in September 2023 to fraud and conspiracy to commit price manipulation tied to Celsius’s CEL token, and he was scheduled to appear for sentencing on Thursday, MEXC reported.

FinanceFeeds later reported that a U.S. federal judge sentenced Cohen-Pavon to time served and 1 year of supervised release over his role in the failed crypto lender’s fraud case, issued by Judge John Koeltl on Wednesday in the Southern District of New York.

The case was tied to claims that Cohen-Pavon helped manipulate the price of Celsius’s CEL token and took part in fraud linked to the platform before its collapse, FinanceFeeds said.

FinanceFeeds said Cohen-Pavon had pleaded guilty after initially denying 4 charges following his September 2023 arrest, and it described the case as centered on claims he manipulated the price of Celsius’s CEL token and took part in fraud linked to the platform before its collapse.

Before sentencing, FinanceFeeds quoted Cohen-Pavon’s letter to the court: “Whatever sentence the Court imposes, the deeper obligation will remain the same.”

CoinCentral

Bitcoin World reported that Cohen-Pavon was released from custody after the U.S. court credited him for time already served, with Judge John G. Koeltl sentencing him to one year of supervised release and no additional prison time.

Bitcoin World said the court credited the former executive for the period he had already spent in custody, effectively allowing his immediate release, and it described the scheme as running between 2018 and 2022 to artificially inflate the price of CEL tokens.

In the same sentencing context, TradingView said Judge John Koeltl ordered that Cohen-Pavon be sentenced to time served and one year of supervised release for manipulating the price of Celsius’s CEL token and fraud on the platform.

Even as the Celsius criminal proceedings neared an end, the sources tied the case to a wider enforcement landscape, with MEXC describing the Celsius collapse as one of the crypto industry’s most consequential bankruptcies of 2022 and linking it to broader distress that culminated in FTX’s Chapter 11 filing.

MEXC also said former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 after pleading guilty to commodities and securities fraud and agreeing to a forfeiture exceeding $48 million.

Cointelegraph reported that Roman Storm, the co-founder of crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, still faced a possible retrial on two charges in the Southern District of New York after a jury failed to reach a verdict.

Cointelegraph said prosecutors requested a judge schedule the proceedings in October to retry Storm on money laundering and sanctions violation conspiracy charges, and it added that Storm’s $2 million bail restricts him to certain areas of New York, Washington and California.

TradingView further reported that a federal judge granted Storm permission to “attend his niece’s high school graduation” in El Dorado Hills, California, while the Celsius-related sentencing concluded for Cohen-Pavon and Mashinsky.