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A UK judge has rejected former Saitama token CEO Manpreet Kohli's challenge against extradition to the US, sending the decision to British government ministers. Kohli remains free on £200,000 (~$272,400) bail and can still appeal, so nothing is final yet.
Kohli faces US charges including wire fraud, market manipulation, conspiracy, and running an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Prosecutors allege he personally made around $20 million as part of a scheme involving coordinated wallet purchases and paid wash trading through firms ZM Quant and Gotbit, designed to inflate trading activity on the Saitama token — an Ethereum-based project that once hit a reported $7.5 billion market cap.
This is part of the broader "Operation Token Mirrors" case brought by the DOJ in October 2024, which charged 18 individuals over alleged coordinated token manipulation. Gotbit has already admitted to manipulating prices/volumes for clients including Saitama, and was ordered to forfeit $23 million, with its founder getting an eight-month sentence.
Kohli had argued against extradition partly on mental health/suicide-risk grounds, which the judge said could be adequately managed. He'd separately failed earlier this month to get the Boston indictment dismissed on arguments that Saitama wasn't legally a security.
Worth noting: Kohli has not been convicted of anything, and the case still has to clear UK ministerial sign-off plus any appeal. Saitama itself has long since faded from relevance in the market, but this case is one of the more concrete examples of US prosecutors going after alleged coordinated wash trading rather than just token issuance fraud.
Anyone been following the Token Mirrors defendants — is Kohli's case seen as the strongest of the bunch, or just the one furthest along procedurally?
Kohli faces US charges including wire fraud, market manipulation, conspiracy, and running an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Prosecutors allege he personally made around $20 million as part of a scheme involving coordinated wallet purchases and paid wash trading through firms ZM Quant and Gotbit, designed to inflate trading activity on the Saitama token — an Ethereum-based project that once hit a reported $7.5 billion market cap.
This is part of the broader "Operation Token Mirrors" case brought by the DOJ in October 2024, which charged 18 individuals over alleged coordinated token manipulation. Gotbit has already admitted to manipulating prices/volumes for clients including Saitama, and was ordered to forfeit $23 million, with its founder getting an eight-month sentence.
Kohli had argued against extradition partly on mental health/suicide-risk grounds, which the judge said could be adequately managed. He'd separately failed earlier this month to get the Boston indictment dismissed on arguments that Saitama wasn't legally a security.
Worth noting: Kohli has not been convicted of anything, and the case still has to clear UK ministerial sign-off plus any appeal. Saitama itself has long since faded from relevance in the market, but this case is one of the more concrete examples of US prosecutors going after alleged coordinated wash trading rather than just token issuance fraud.
Anyone been following the Token Mirrors defendants — is Kohli's case seen as the strongest of the bunch, or just the one furthest along procedurally?