Federal prosecutors blast ex-Celsius CEO’s motion to vacate as ‘without merit’

Written by Turner Wrightstaff writerReviewed by Robert Lakinstaff editorWritten by Turner Wrightstaff writerReviewed by Robert Lakinstaff editorFederal prosecutors blast ex-Celsius CEO’s motion to vacate as ‘without merit’Latest NewsPublishedAug 18, 2026Despite already serving a 12-year sentence in federal prison, Alex Mashinsky continues to explore legal avenues to vacate his conviction related to activities at Celsius.An effort by Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, to convince a federal court to vacate his 12-year sentence for fraud and market manipulation faces pushback from US prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY).In a Friday filing, SDNY Attorney James McDonald and Assistant US Attorney Allison Nichols said that the court should deny Mashinsky’s petition to vacate his conviction and sentence, saying that many of his legal arguments were “without merit” and pushing back against claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The former Celsius CEO informed the court in May that he would be proceeding pro se — that is, representing himself in the case — and filed a motion to vacate, including claims about cryptocurrency exchange FTX and his former colleague, the company’s chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon.“Mashinsky has not even submitted a sworn declaration in support of these baseless allegations, and his petition should be denied without a hearing or further fact-finding,” said prosecutors, adding:“[...] He presents a litany of complaints, blaming others for problems at Celsius and rehashing the evidence presented at his sentencing hearing. Though Mashinsky stops short of claiming that he is factually innocent, he blames his lawyers for failing to press certain arguments on his behalf.”As of Tuesday, the judge overseeing the case had not responded to the federal prosecutors’ filing. Mashinsky was sentenced in May 2025 to 144 months in prison, having pleaded guilty to commodities fraud a…

Federal prosecutors blast ex-Celsius CEO’s motion to vacate as ‘without merit’

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