Celsius CFO Suspended After Reports of Arrest in Israel
Yaron Shalem was connected to embattled crypto entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg.
Key Takeaways
- Celsius has announced that one of its employees is under investigation for activity unrelated to the company.
- Though Celsius did not reveal the employee's name, CFO Yaron Shalem is likely to be the person in question.
- Shalem was involved with crypto entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg, who was arrested this month on fraud and assault charges.
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Celsius CFO Yaron Shalem has reportedly been arrested in Israel on charges related to activity outside the company.
Celsius Employee Is Under Investigation
On Thursday, Celsius tweeted that it was “recently made aware of a police investigation in Israel involving an employee.” It added that this event was unrelated to the employee’s work at Celsius and that none of its funds were affected. The firm also said that it had immediately suspended the employee.
Though Celsius did not name the employee, most believe the accused person was the company’s CFO, Yaron Shalem.
Celsius has repeatedly refused to confirm that Shalem was the employee in question. However, some have noted that the company has removed Shalem from its team page, arguably confirming the suspended employee’s identity by omission.
Shalem Was Connected With Moshe Hogeg
Shalem is likely one of eight people arrested and investigated in connection with Moshe Hogeg, who was arrested on charges of fraud, money laundering, and sexual assault last week.
Hogeg is best known as the founder of the crypto phone company Sirin Labs. He also operated a venture capital firm called Singulariteam, where Shalem served as CFO for several years. Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was previously involved with Sirin Labs as an advisor but does not seem to be under investigation.
Earlier this week, Celsius announced that it had expanded its latest funding round to $750 million. It also has plans to invest and diversify into mining alongside its main crypto lending service.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned less than $100 of BTC, ETH, and altcoins.
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