Ex-Celsius CRO to forfeit $1.07M ahead of sentencing

Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former chief revenue officer of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, has consented to a $1,070,000 forfeiture, prosecutors wrote in a Tuesday filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The judgment represents proceeds traceable to crimes he admitted in September 2023.

The filing, submitted by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, notes Cohen-Pavon will receive credit for any cash or cryptocurrency he already turned over in Celsius’s bankruptcy. Clayton did not recommend a specific prison term and asked the court to consider the guidelines for a reduced sentence for defendants who provide substantial assistance.

Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty in September 2023 to one count of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit price manipulation tied to trading and reporting around the CEL token. Prosecutors wrote that the forfeiture amount reflects proceeds traceable to those offenses.

In April, Cohen-Pavon’s lawyers asked the court to impose a sentence of time served, citing his cooperation with investigators and a possible role in securing the guilty plea of former CEO Alex Mashinsky.

In a letter to Judge John Koeltl, Cohen-Pavon wrote: “I pleaded guilty because I am guilty. I participated in the manipulation of the CEL token. I did not stop it when I should have, and I did not leave when I could have. I take full responsibility for that.”

Celsius filed for bankruptcy in 2022 following severe market stress. The failure left retail customers and institutional creditors seeking recoveries through the bankruptcy process and related litigation.

Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodities and securities fraud and in May 2025 received a 12-year prison sentence and agreed to forfeit more than $48 million. He also resolved an FTC matter with a $10 million payment.

Other recent federal actions include an order by Judge Lewis Kaplan to apply $10 million in assets toward Sam Bankman-Fried’s forfeiture. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years and ordered to pay more than $11 billion; his appeal remained pending this week.

Cohen-Pavon is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday before Judge John Koeltl. The court will decide whether to credit his cooperation and how to weigh the agreed forfeiture when setting a final term.