The crypto trader behind the $110 million exploit of the Solana (SOL)-based decentralized finance (DeFi) trading platform Mango Markets is now under the custody of US authorities.
A court document submitted by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams to Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker of the Southern District of New York says that Avraham Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico on Monday, December 26th.
“Last night, the defendant was arrested in the District of Puerto Rico and will be presented later today.”
Eisenberg, who runs a trading firm, admitted in October that he is the brain behind the scheme that left Mango Markets insolvent and users unable to access their funds.
The arrest comes after he is charged with commodities fraud and manipulation.
In his deposition, FBI Special Agent Brandon Racz says Eisenberg intentionally and artificially manipulated the price of perpetual futures contracts on Mango Markets allowing the self-described digital art dealer to borrow and withdraw large amounts of crypto assets from the platform.
“While Eisenberg purported to be borrowing the cryptocurrency, he appeared to have no intention of actually repaying those loans. Following the withdrawals described above, Solana Wallet-1, the Exchange-1 Account, and the Exchange-2 Account ceased purchasing MNGO and began to sell MNGO for USDC.”
Racz says Eisenberg is aware of laws prohibiting market manipulation and even attempted to evade arrest when he flew from the US to Israel a day after committing the scheme.
“Based on the timing of the flight, the travel appears to have been an effort to avoid apprehension by law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of the Market Manipulation Scheme.”
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