New York jury convicts man in first-ever cryptocurrency market manipulation case

A
New
York
federal
jury
on
Thursday
convicted
a
Puerto
Rico
man
of
a
$110
million
scheme
that
was
the
Department
of
Justice’s
first-ever

cryptocurrency
open-market
manipulation
case,
prosecutors
said.

The
man,
28-year-old
Avraham
Eisenberg
of
San
Juan,
faces
a
maximum
possible
sentence
of
20
years
in
prison
for
the
charges
of
wire
fraud,
commodities
fraud,
and
commodities
manipulation.

Prosecutors
said
Eisenberg
fraudulently
obtained
about
$110
million
worth
of
cryptocurrency
from
the
Mango
Markets
exchange
and
its
customers
by
artificially
and
dramatically
driving
up
the
price
of
both
futures
contracts
and
the
MNGO
crypto
token,
and
then
borrowing
cryptocurrency
based
on
the
value
of
the
inflated
assets.

“When
Eisenberg
borrowed
and
withdrew
this
cryptocurrency,
he
had
no
intention
of
repaying
the
borrowed
funds
but
rather
intended
to
steal
those
funds,”
the
Manhattan
U.S.
Attorney’s
Office
said
in
a
statement
when
he
was
indicted
in
February
2023.

On
Thursday,
U.S.
Attorney
Damian
Williams
said, “Moments
ago,
Avraham
Eisenberg
was
found
guilty
by
a
unanimous
jury
in
the
first-ever
cryptocurrency
market
manipulation
case.”

“This
ground-breaking
prosecution
epitomizes
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
on
July
29
in
Manhattan
federal
court.

This
is
developing
news.
Check
back
for
updates.