sentencing

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York stated in a court filing on Tuesday that Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former Chief Revenue Officer of the defunct crypto lending platform Celsius, has agreed to a forfeiture judgment of $1.07 million, representing the proceeds traceable to his criminal conduct. Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty in September 2023 to charges of fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the price related to Celsius's CEL token, and is scheduled to be sentenced this Thursday. Cohen-Pavon's lawyer previously requested a sentence of time served, citing his cooperation agreement with the government and his potential role in the guilty plea of former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 for commodity and securities fraud and agreed to forfeit over $48 million. In a letter to the judge, Cohen-Pavon stated, "I plead guilty because I am guilty. I participated in the manipulation of the CEL token. I should have stopped it but did not, I could have left but did not. I take full responsibility for this."Additionally, on Thursday, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the same court ordered that $10 million in assets associated with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried be used to fulfill his forfeiture agreement. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding FTX users and investors and is subject to over $11 billion in forfeiture. His appeal to overturn the conviction and sentence is still pending.

The unlicensed virtual asset trading platform JPEX was revealed to be involved in fraud in 2023, with multiple artists and influencers implicated in deceiving investors and causing them to lose their assets. According to the latest disclosures from Hong Kong media, the Wen Wei Po, two suspects involved in money laundering of approximately HKD 26.4 million have been summoned in two separate cases at the District Court. The prosecution has confirmed that a notice for increased penalties has been issued and recorded by the court. Judge Ko Kin-sau has scheduled the two cases for further hearings on March 31 and April 9, respectively. It is reported that the police have prosecuted 16 individuals in this case so far.

According to Cryptonews, Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, may still face a second trial in South Korea after being sentenced to 15 years in prison by a U.S. federal court in Manhattan for orchestrating the $40 billion TerraUSD collapse.Reports indicate that South Korean prosecutors are seeking to impose a sentence of over 30 years on Do Kwon for violating capital market laws. The 34-year-old South Korean national could apply for transfer to South Korea after serving half of his sentence, with approximately 200,000 South Korean investors losing about 300 billion won ($204 million) as a result.U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer stated during the sentencing last week, "In the history of federal prosecutions, few fraud cases have caused such severe damage." Do Kwon has admitted to deliberately participating in a scheme to defraud buyers of Terraform Labs' cryptocurrency from 2018 to 2022, leading to the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin and Luna token in May 2022, triggering a chain reaction in the cryptocurrency market.

According to Finance Feeds, Do Kwon is scheduled to be sentenced in New York on Thursday after admitting to two felony charges, but the presiding judge is urging both the prosecution and defense attorneys to clarify his circumstances in South Korea.U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, in documents submitted on Monday, requested both sides to detail the charges and the "maximum and minimum sentences" Do Kwon might face if extradited back to South Korea. Do Kwon admitted to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in August. These charges stem from his role in the 2022 collapse of Terraform Labs, which triggered a broader market downturn and caused significant losses across the cryptocurrency industry.Do Kwon is expected to serve time in the U.S. first, but Engelmayer's questions indicate that the court wants a comprehensive understanding of the parallel criminal charges he faces in South Korea. The judge also inquired whether both sides agree that "the time Do Kwon was detained in Montenegro" should not count towards any sentence he receives in the U.S. Do Kwon was held in Montenegro for four months for using forged travel documents and spent over a year fighting extradition before being transferred to U.S. custody.

ChainCatcher news, according to the International Business Times (IBT), Chinese national Zhimin Qian admitted on September 29 at the Southwark Crown Court in London to possessing criminal cryptocurrency assets.The case involves 61,000 bitcoins previously seized by the UK police, valued at approximately $6.75 billion at current prices, making it the largest cryptocurrency seizure case in the world to date. It is reported that Zhimin Qian defrauded approximately £5 billion from over 128,000 victims in China through investment scams between 2014 and 2017.Subsequently, she converted the illegal proceeds into bitcoins and fled to the UK in 2017 to launder the money. The UK police launched an investigation in 2018 and seized a digital wallet containing 61,000 bitcoins in the same year. Sentencing for Zhimin Qian and her accomplices is scheduled for November 10, 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to on-chain detective ZachXBT, Canadian Cameron Redman has been convicted and ordered to pay restitution for his investigation.In June 2022, Redman profited 250 ETH by selling access to the X platform dashboard, leading to the theft of over 10 well-known accounts (including JRNY, Beeple, Nouns, Zeneca, DeeKay, etc.) and millions of dollars in assets stolen through phishing scams.Redman was known for stealing $37 million in a SIM swap attack in 2020.

ChainCatcher message: According to an announcement from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, between December 30, 2021, and March 12, 2022, London resident Osunkoya operated unregistered cryptocurrency ATMs at 28 different locations through his company GidiPlus Ltd, with a value exceeding £2.5 million. He was ultimately sentenced to 4 years in prison. This ruling marks the first time in the UK that someone has been sentenced for unregistered crypto asset activities.Previously, the FCA collaborated with law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal crypto ATMs nationwide. In 2023, the FCA visited 38 locations and dismantled 30 machines. The number of crypto ATMs advertised on CoinATMRadar in the UK has decreased from over 80 in 2022 to zero in 2024.

ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin reports, former deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Financial Supervision and Administration, Hao Gang, was sentenced to 11 years in the first instance.Hao Gang was involved in Bitcoin money laundering and had assisted executives of a leading Bitcoin mining company in lifting travel restrictions, with the amount of bribes possibly reaching tens of millions. Hao Gang previously served as the director of the Financial Risk Management Department of the Beijing Financial Bureau and became a member of the Party Leadership Group and deputy director of the Beijing Financial Bureau in August 2019, overseeing the risk sector, until he was investigated in April 2023 for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

ChainCatcher message, according to recent court documents, the government believes that Sam Bankman-Fried's claims are baseless, asserting that the jury's verdict and trial outcome are reasonable.SBF had filed a request in September with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction. He argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan's judicial bias and procedural errors undermined his trial. Bankman-Fried stated that the judge's decisions limited key defense arguments and restricted evidence regarding his investments. He also suggested that FTX's financial issues were exaggerated, implying that customers could still recover their funds.The government dismissed these arguments, pointing out that SBF's appeal failed to demonstrate any errors or biases in the original trial. The government also supported the denial of SBF's request to compel third-party debtors to provide specific documents, stating that the court's actions were correct since those documents were not in the court's possession.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a man from Austin, Texas, was sentenced to two years in prison for falsely reporting the capital gains from the sale of $3.7 million in Bitcoin on his tax return. According to court documents and statements, Frank Richard Ahlgren III submitted false tax returns between 2017 and 2019, underreporting or failing to report $4 million in Bitcoin sales transactions, from which he made substantial profits. Regulatory provisions require all taxpayers to report any sales profits as well as gains or losses from the sale of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin on their tax returns.Lucy Tan, acting special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Houston office, stated, "This case marks the first criminal tax prosecution solely related to cryptocurrency." In addition to imprisonment, the man is also required to pay $1,095,031 in restitution to the United States.

ChainCatcher news, November 7, FTX co-founder Gary Wang's lawyer argued that Wang should not be sentenced to prison, as he cooperated with authorities and was unaware of the extent of the exchange's criminal activities.According to a sentencing memorandum submitted on Wednesday, Wang stated that he was not aware of the misappropriation of FTX customer funds by sister company Alameda Research and only learned of the situation after the fraudulent activities were "well underway." Wang is scheduled to be sentenced in a New York court on November 20. Wang's son is also set to be born a week later on November 27, and both he and his wife Cheryl Chen are full-time software engineers. The memorandum states that his current work includes supporting "forensic companies, criminal investigators, and judicial professionals seeking to preserve evidence faithfully."Wang later testified in SBF's trial, telling the court about the special privileges secretly granted to Alameda Research for accounts on FTX. The lawyer also stated, "It is crucial, as acknowledged by the government and evidenced in the trial, that when Gary was writing code, he had no idea that Bankman-Fried would exploit these features to steal customer funds. Bankman-Fried did not even inform Gary before he began to utilize these features (let alone coordinate with him)."

ChainCatcher News, U.S. prosecutors submitted a document to the court on September 17, recommending a lighter sentence for former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. The prosecutors stated that Ellison provided "extraordinary cooperation" in the prosecution of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and assisted in the investigation of misconduct at Alameda Research and FTX.The prosecutors emphasized that although Ellison played a central role in SBF's criminal scheme, she was not involved in all aspects of FTX. Ellison pleaded guilty in December 2022 and testified at SBF's trial.Given Ellison's cooperative attitude and contributions to the case, the prosecutors believe her testimony was crucial for the prosecution and conviction of SBF. Ellison's attorney had previously requested probation. She is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on September 24.

ChainCatcher news, according to ABC News, former U.S. President Trump is seeking to delay sentencing in the New York "hush money" case until after the presidential election.

ChainCatcher news, according to market news, Trump's sentencing date is set for July 11, and it may be postponed.

ChainCatcher news, recently, the Haikou Intermediate People's Court of Hainan Province upheld the original judgment in the "Vika Coin" case in the second instance, sentencing Liu Mouyan, Huang Mouzhi, and Liu Mourui to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 13 years to 3 years for the crime of fundraising fraud, along with fines.In the first-instance court's judgment, Liu Mouyan was sentenced to 13 years in prison and fined 700,000 yuan for fundraising fraud; Huang Mouzhi was sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined 500,000 yuan for fundraising fraud; Liu Mourui was sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan for fundraising fraud. After the verdict, Huang Mouzhi appealed.The Haikou Intermediate Court held that the original judgment determined that the appellant Huang Mouzhi and the original defendants Liu Mouyan and Liu Mourui illegally raised over 16.62 million yuan with the intent of illegal possession using fraudulent methods, and their actions clearly constituted the crime of fundraising fraud, thus upholding the original judgment.Previous news from August 2022, the Qiongshan Branch of the Haikou Public Security Bureau successfully solved a case of investment fraud involving virtual currency for elderly care, arresting 9 suspects. The criminals guided middle-aged and elderly individuals to invest in the virtual currency "Vika Coin" for profit, with the amount involved exceeding 20 million yuan and over 100 victims.

ChainCatcher news, according to on-site reporter @nikhileshde, Judge Richard Jones in the Zhao Changpeng case basically agreed with the probation office's viewpoint. The sentencing is 10-16 months of imprisonment and a 1-3 year term. Before the final ruling, opinions from the Department of Justice, the defense, and Zhao Changpeng will now be heard. DOJ lawyers emphasized that Zhao Changpeng deliberately attempted to exploit the U.S. financial system.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by Reuters, former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, Changpeng Zhao, may face several years in prison when he is sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws. U.S. prosecutors have informed Seattle District Judge Richard Jones that they are seeking a sentence for Zhao that is double the recommended maximum of 18 months under federal guidelines. Prosecutors stated that imposing a severe penalty on someone once considered the most influential figure in the cryptocurrency industry would send a message that "the right choice every time is to obey the law."The hearing began at 9 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Tuesday (May 1, 12:00 a.m. Beijing time). Robert Fisher, a partner at Boston's Nixon Peabody law firm and former federal prosecutor, expressed surprise at the prosecutors' request for a harsh sentence after Zhao's guilty plea, but suggested they might be trying to set an example due to Zhao's high profile. He said, "Requesting a sentence that exceeds the sentencing guidelines is unusual, and they hope this will serve as a deterrent." Zhao's lawyers requested probation, arguing that Zhao has "unwaveringly" accepted responsibility and has already paid a $50 million criminal fine. They also noted that Zhao has never committed a crime before, and no defendants in similar cases have been imprisoned.

ChainCatcher News, an assistant prosecutor from the U.S. federal prosecutor's office stated in court that SBF did not swear to refrain from doing so again, and also mentioned the possibility of relaunching FTX or similar products. Therefore, it is suggested to sentence SBF to 40 years in prison to prevent him from making mistakes again.