Top Celsius executives withdrew millions before pausing withdrawals

The latest court filings in the Celsius bankruptcy case have uncovered some controversial transactions made by the defunct crypto lender’s top brass.

Barely days after news of former CEO Alex Mashinsky’s $10 million withdrawal came to light, a Statement Financial Affairs filed by Celsius revealed that CTO Nuke Goldstein and former CSO Daniel Leon withdrew millions of dollars from the platform. 

Millions withdrawn right before insolvency 

These transactions took place in the days leading up to the withdrawal suspension and the subsequent bankruptcy filing earlier this year.

The three executives made a number of internal transfers and withdrawals between May and June 2022. The combined amount that Mashinsky, Leon, and Goldstein took off the platform has now reached $52.12 million.

The document submitted to the bankruptcy court, which contained more than 14,000 pages, showed that Nuke Goldstein withdrew $13 million from the platform, in addition to $7.8 million in the form of CEL tokens that were labeled as collateral.

Daniel Leon, on the other hand, withdrew $7 million from Celsius, along with $4 million worth of CEL tokens. These transactions took place between 27 May and 31 May. 

The report further revealed that key figures within Celsius, including Chief Compliance Officer Oren Blonstein, former CFO Rod Bolge, Chief Risk Officer Rodney Sunada-Wong, and new CEO Chris Ferraro, did not make any significant transactions during that period. 

Daniel Leon resigned just days after company chief Alex Mashinsky announced his departure on 27 September. 

Celsius UCC’s oversight

Celsius’ Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors informed the community on Twitter that it will “carefully review the voluminous disclosures, which will inform key next steps for the process.”

Another court filing made on 5 October revealed the bankruptcy court’s latest order which directed Celsius to regularly update the Unsecured Creditors Committee regarding the financial status of the company. 

This includes the monthly budget, cash balance, payroll expenses, taxes, and transactions involving Celsius’ mining operations. 

In addition to the update, Celsius will also have to take approval from the committee before making any vendor payment that exceeds $50,000.

The defunct crypto lender is also in the process of auctioning its assets. The deadline for the final bid is 17 October and Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly a front runner for the acquisition of Celsius’ assets.