Celsius

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United States Prosecutors have called for a comprehensive examination of the cases involving former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Celsius, <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/celsius-ceo-violated-us-regulations-cftc/">Alex Mashinsky</a>, and FTX founder and former CEO, <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-convicted/">Sam Bankman-Fried</a>. The call is based on concerns about potential conflicts of interest arising from the shared use of legal representation by <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/celsius-creditors-aim-to-expose-ftx-users/">both crypto companies.</a>&nbsp; 
<h2 id="us-prosecutors-address-potential-conflict-of-interest">US Prosecutors Address Potential Conflict Of Interest</h2> 
On Tuesday, the US government requested a hearing from <a href="https://www.newsbtc.com/ftx/sam-bankman-fried-jail/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Judge Lewis Kaplan</a>, the Senior Judge of the Southern District of NewYork. The Prosecutors <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.590940/gov.uscourts.nysd.590940.397.0.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">filed letters</a> urging the Court to conduct a hearing concerning the potential conflicts of interest that could arise from the defense counsel’s representation of the defendant.&nbsp; 
The letter raised concerns over lawyers Marc Mukasey and Torrey Young, who had previously filed notices of appearances in <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/former-ftx-ceo-agrees-to-gag-order/">criminal cases </a>against the former CEOs of FTX and Celsius. Now, the lawyers are set to represent Mashinsky as a defendant, prompting issues of a potential conflict of interest that may compromise the integrity of the legal proceedings. 
Consequently, <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-10-billion/">US prosecutors</a> have demanded a Curcio hearing to address these issues, allowing the defendant to knowingly waive any potential conflict that may arise. According to US laws, a defendant has a right to conflict-free legal representations.&nbsp; 
Typically, when a Court becomes aware of the possibility of a conflict of interest, it initiates a thorough investigation to determine whether the attorney indeed suffers a conflict. Furthermore, upon confirmation that the defense counsel is compromised by a conflict of interest, the Court has a disqualification obligation to ascertain whether the severity of the conflict justifies the dismissal of the attorney.&nbsp; 
Presently, the Prosecutors have noted that the potential conflicts are not so “severe” and can be easily resolved by waiving them or by appointing additional counsel to the case.&nbsp; 
<h2 id="celsius-allegations-fuel-possible-conflict-of-interest-with-ftx">Celsius Allegations Fuel Possible Conflict Of Interest With FTX</h2> 
According to the US Prosecutors’ letter, the recognition of <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/celsius-makes-good-on-promise-begins-distributing-3-billion-to-creditors/">Celsius’s</a> status as a victim in the fraud involving FTX’s subsidiary company, <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/ftx-alamedas-65-billion-backdoor-before-collapse/">Alameda Research</a>, may create a conflict in the simultaneous legal representation of both Bankman-Fried and Mashinsky.&nbsp; 
Previously, Mashinsky claimed that Alameda Research used “secret abilities” to borrow unlimited funds for Celsius’s native token, CEL, on <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/ftx-abandons-restart-plan/">FTX</a>, subsequently flooding the market and manipulating the token’s price. Due to this, US Prosecutors assert that these allegations establish grounds for a conflict of interest.&nbsp; 
Additionally, the defense counsel’s limitation in sharing information discovered from the millions of <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/sam-bankman-fried-evidence-ftx/">Bankman-Fried records</a>, courtesy of a protective order, may give rise to a potential for a conflict of interest between the two former crypto CEOs. As a result, the US government has conveniently presented a set of proposed questions for the Court to ask the defendant as part of the Curcio inquiry. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium" src="https://www.tradingview.com/x/UEqCMOUF/" alt="FTT Token price chart from Tradingview.com (FTX Celsius Network)" width="3286" height="1530">

Is There A Link Between FTX And Celsius Network? Prosecutors Probe Founders’ Lawyers

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