The SEC brought charges against Avraham Eisenberg after the U.S. securities regulator said Eisenberg stole $116 million from Mango Markets.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have joined forces to file charges against a cryptocurrency user accused of orchestrating a scam that caused millions of dollars in losses in Mango Markets, a DeFi protocol.
By manipulating the MNGO governance token, Avraham Eisenberg defrauded Mango Markets of almost $116 million in cryptocurrency, according to a statement made by the SEC on January 20.
In addition, it is alleged that Eisenberg stole money from Mango Markets after making a number of significant MNGO transactions in order to artificially raise the token’s price to the USD Coin USDC tickers by $1.00.
The SEC, with assistance from the FBI, the CFTC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, has also accused Avraham-27 of breaking the anti-fraud and market manipulation provisions of the Securities and Exchange Act.
According to the banking regulator, it would pursue “Civil penalties, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, a conduct-based injunction, and permanent injunctive relief”
Eisenberg is accused of carrying out a massive Mango Markets exploit in October that led to the withdrawal of over $50 million USDC, $27 million Marinade Staked SOL (mSOL), $24 million in SOL, and $15 million in MNGO.
In the open, Eisenberg claimed that his actions as part of a “highly successful trading strategy” had been legitimate. Later, Mango Markets disclosed that he had spent almost $67 million.
Police in Puerto Rico seized Eisenberg in December. The offender was charged with “intentional and artificial manipulation” of the price of never-ending futures on the cryptocurrency platform in an FBI complaint.
The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Eisenberg on January 9 accusing him of market manipulation. The only way to secure Eisenberg’s appearance was for a magistrate court to order his custody until his trial during a detention hearing in January. The Mango Markets fraudster has not commented since his arrest in December.
