US judge overturns conviction of Mango Markets B fraudster!

US judge overturns conviction of Mango Markets B fraudster!

A US federal judge has overturned Avraham Eisenberg's fraud and market manipulation convictions. This happened in a case where decentralized crypto exchange Mango Markets was exploited for $110 million. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's conclusions.

Eisenberg was convicted in 2024 for increasing the price of the MNGO token by more than 1,300% and using resulting profits as collateral to withdraw $110 million in crypto assets from the platform. The Justice Department argued that he deceived Mango's lending system. In his defense, Eisenberg claimed that he had merely exploited poorly designed programming code.

Judge's verdict

Justice Subramanian agreed with the defense and found that the system could not be deceived. He also rejected prosecutors' argument that the case should be tried in New York because Eisenberg was in Puerto Rico at the time of the trade and there was no significant activity in New York.

The decision overturns Eisenberg's convictions for commodities fraud and market manipulation and acquits him of a third charge. The US government currently has to decide whether to re-file the withdrawn charges.

Further legal difficulties for Eisenberg

Despite the overturning of his convictions, Eisenberg continues to face civil lawsuits from the SEC and CFTC. In addition, he remains in prison on another case. He was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on May 1 after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.

Eisenberg was arrested by US federal authorities in Puerto Rico in December 2022. FBI officials had charged him with trade fraud and trade manipulation, and a jury found him guilty in April 2024. The defense argued during the trial that the exploit used represented a legal trading strategy.

The latest developments in this process highlight the legal framework and challenges in the area of ​​cryptocurrencies. The outcome could be important not only for Eisenberg, but also for the entire crypto industry.

For more details on this case, see Cointelegraph and Cointelegraph.