US Government Asks for $1M in Forfeiture from Ex-Celsius Exec Ahead of Sentencing

Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former chief revenue officer of defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, will likely turn over more than $1 million as part of a forfeiture order by US authorities ahead of his sentencing hearing.

In a Tuesday court filing, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said that Cohen-Pavon had consented to a $1,070,000 judgment “representing the amount of proceeds traceable” to the former Celsius executive’s crimes. Clayton said that Cohen-Pavon would receive credit for any funds, in cash or crypto that he had on Celsius, paid as part of the platform’s bankruptcy case.

Source: PACER

Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy to commit price manipulation related to Celsius’s CEL token in September 2023. Clayton did not recommend a specific sentence for the Celsius executive, instead asking the judge to consider the guidelines for an “appropriate sentencing reduction for a defendant who has rendered substantial assistance.” He is scheduled to appear for sentencing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday.

The collapse of Celsius was one of the most significant bankruptcies in the crypto industry in 2022, possibly precipitated by the downfall of the Terra ecosystem and leading to large exchanges including FTX filing for Chapter 11 in the US. Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 after pleading guilty to commodities and securities fraud and agreed to a forfeiture of more than $48 million.

Related: Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky settles FTC case with $10M payment

In April, Cohen-Pavon’s lawyers asked that he be sentenced to time served, citing his cooperation agreement with the government and potential role in Mashinsky’s guilty plea. They said that the Celsius executive took “full responsibility for his conduct.”

“I pleaded guilty because I am guilty,” said Cohen-Pavon in a letter to Judge John Koeltl. “I participated in the manipulation of the CEL token. I did not stop it when I should have, and I did not leave when I could have. I take full responsibility for that.”

Judge orders $10 million added to judgment of former FTX CEO

On Thursday, SDNY Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered that $10 million in assets connected to Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried be used toward the former FTX CEO’s forfeiture agreement. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $11 billion as part of his role in defrauding FTX users and investors.

In April, Kaplan denied Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial, with the former CEO claiming that the judge showed “manifest prejudice” during his time in court in 2023. His appeal to overturn his conviction and sentence with the Second Circuit was still pending as of Wednesday.

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