Crypto News – Crypto Trader Convicted in $100 Million Mango Markets Scam

Crypto News – Crypto Trader Convicted in $100 Million Mango Markets Scam

Crypto News – Crypto trader Avraham Eisenberg was convicted on Thursday for his involvement in trades made in October 2022, which siphoned off over $100 million from Mango Markets, as reported by Bloomberg.

The 28-year-old Eisenberg faced charges of commodities fraud, wire fraud, and commodities manipulation. The jury unanimously found him guilty on all counts.

Following the closing arguments from both the prosecution and defense, the jury deliberated from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday before delivering their verdict. The trial, spanning a week, occurred just a few floors below where FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced last month.

Eisenberg was apprehended in Puerto Rico in December 2022. Prosecutors asserted that he illicitly pocketed $110 million by manipulating Mango Market futures contracts, inflating the price of swaps by 1,000%, and then leveraging these contracts before departing from Puerto Rico to Israel.

While the government contended that he was fleeing due to his criminal actions, Eisenberg’s defense team claimed he fled in response to numerous threats received after his trades.

“The more he inflated, the more he could pilfer,” stated government attorneys during their closing arguments on Wednesday. “It’s glaringly obvious that the defendant was aware he was engaging in criminal behavior,” they added.

The defense’s argument centered on the decentralized structure of Mango Markets, which, according to Eisenberg’s team, facilitated the trades.

Eisenberg’s defense attorney, Brian Klein, argued on Wednesday that his client employed a “successful, legitimate trading strategy.”

Klein pointed out that his client was not required to verify his identity, maintain collateral on the platform, or undergo a credit check.

In the government’s rebuttal, assistant US attorney Thomas Burnett asserted that the defense was attempting to divert attention from the prosecution’s claims.

“The evidence and documents demonstrate that he was borrowing. You should trust what you see with your own eyes,” he told the court.