Celsius accuses former partner of stealing tens of millions of dollars
Crypto company filed a counterclaim against KeyFi investment manager, accusing him of misappropriation of assets and laundering them through Tornado Cash.
Crypto company Celsius Network LLC is suing former investment manager Jason Stone and his company KeyFi Inc, accusing them of negligence, misinvestment and loss or theft of tens of millions of dollars of assets, according to Reuters.
Celsius’s lawsuit was countered: In early July, DeFi software investment firm KeyFi Inc. sued Celsius for fraud and failure to honor a profit-sharing agreement “worth millions of dollars”
The Celsius lawsuit alleges that Stone, who worked with the crypto company for 7 months in 2020–2021, misappropriated assets to buy hundreds of NFTs that he kept out of reach and covered their tracks using the Tornado Cash crypto mixer.
Stone’s lawyer, Kyle Roche, told the publication that KeyFi’s NFT compensation was authorized by Celsius director Alex Mashinsky, and the lawsuit is an attempt by the crypto company to shift responsibility for its organizational incompetence to others.
Both lawsuits seek to recover funds that each side believes the other owes. The exact amounts are not called.
In early June, Celsius Network, which has 1.7 million customers, faced difficulties due to “extreme market conditions” and began to restructure the business, bringing in outside consultants and lawyers. On June 13, the company suspended all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between accounts, and on July 13 filed a lawsuit for protection from creditors.
