By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
SDNY COURTROOM, Feb 24 - In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on December 27, 2022 a complaint was ordered unsealed charging Avraham Eisenberg with commodities fraud. He was arrested in Puerto Rico.
Inner City Press is covering the case(s), often as the only media in the Mag Court. Related Mag Court live-tweeted thread (more on Patreon here) vlog here
On January 9, Inner City Press came across the CFTC case against Eisenberg, just filed (still with no title in PACER) and put it out on Patreon here. The 21-page civil complaint is, as is often the case, more detailed...
The same day the criminal complaint was unsealed, Inner City Press repeatedly checked the SDNY Magistrates Court but it was locked. But the complaint in this case charges that Eisenberg "engaged in a scheme involving the intentional and artificial manipulation of the price of perpetual futures contracts on a cryptocurrency exchange called Mango Markets... which has its own native crypto token called MNGO."
The unsealed complaint is now on Patreon here
On January 30, 2023, District Judge Liman held a hearing on Mango Labs LLC's order to show cause - but no one was there for Eisenberg. In fat, Inner City Press was the only person in the courtroom gallery. Here's some tweets here.
On February 3, Eisenberg in a yellow jump suit and feet shackled was brought into Magistrates Court at SDNY. He had, at least for the proceeding, the same lawyer Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith had in the North Korea sanctions case he pled guilty in: Brian Klein.
His parents were in the gallery and he looked at them, from two rows away. The prosecutor said that (unlike on Sam Bankman-Fried) they were seeking detention, and that he was consenting at least for now. Here is Inner City Press' thread.
There's more detail on Patreon here.
On February 14, there was a very brief arraignment, thread here:
OK- now at arraignment of Avi Eisenberg, who unlike Sam Bankman-Fried is in detention, brought in by Marshals in a yellow prison jumpsuit.
Judge Berman: How do you plead?
EISENBERG: Not guilty.
Klein (who repped Virgil Griffith): We are being retained. Judge: March 14 at 1 pm. That's it.
This next session, now described as a bond hearing, came up on February 24 during an hour and a half argument in Mango Labs v. Eisenberg before Judge Lewis J. Liman. Inner City Press live tweeted, thread here:
OK- now in Mango Labs v Avi Eisenberg, preliminary injunction argument. Mango Labs accuses EIsenberg of "unlawful threat."
Judge Liman: This is about tokens, but could just as easily be about securities. Couldn't the individual tokenholders have sued?
Mango Labs' Morrison (MoFo) counsel: it was duress. They were skitish he would just run off
MoFo: He used the passport of a Ukrainian woman to open an account on a third party exchange to pump the price of Mango. He is a criminal - Judge: He is presumed innocent
Eisenberg's lawyer: At first we didn't know much about Mango Labs...We still question their standing.
MoFo: Eisenberg is a bot trader, the assets can move even though he's locked up in Essex [Eisenberg's civil counsel says bond hearing March 14]
Ultimately Judge Liman extended the TRO for two weeks, after for two letters by Tuesday, and said he will rule on March 10. Watch this site.
Inner City Press will have more on these cases.
The criminal case is US v. Eisenberg, 23-cr-10 (Berman)
The CFTC case is Communities Futures Trading Commission v. Eisenberg, 23-cv-173 (Schofield)
The Mango Labbs civil case is Mango Labs, LLC v. Eisenberg, 23-cv-665 (Liman)
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