Yaron Shalem, the chief financial officer of cryptocurrency loan platform Celsius, was one of seven individuals arrested in Tel Aviv earlier this month in relation to Israeli cryptocurrency magnate Moshe Hogeg.
Celsius said this incident had nothing to do with the employee’s work at Celsius and that none of the company’s funds were impacted. Celsius further stated that the employee had been promptly suspended.
In Israel, court hearings are normally open to the public, except in exceptional cases, when a gag order can be imposed on an inquiry to protect the identities of those involved, as is the case with the individuals involved in the Hogeg probe.
Sirin Labs bigwig
Hogeg is well known as the creator of Sirin Labs, a cryptocurrency phone company. He also ran a venture capital firm named Singulariteam, where Shalem worked for several years as chief financial officer.
Celsius Chief Executive Officer Alex Mashinsky was previously an advisor to Sirin Labs but does not appear to be under scrutiny.
Celsius reported earlier this week that it had increased the size of its last investment round to $750 million. Additionally, it intends to invest in and diversify into mining on top of its primary crypto lending service.
Past controversy
Hogeg has been embroiled in controversy in the past, the majority of which stems from the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) boom. Shalem was implicated in a lawsuit filed against Hogeg in January 2019 by Chinese investor Zhewen Hu, according to the Times of Israel.
Celsius has encountered its own setbacks in recent months. Securities regulators in Texas and New Jersey investigated the company in September, saying that its lending product qualified as an unregistered security.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube