- Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg has asked the court to set him free or try him afresh
- Eisenberg still maintains that he did nothing wrong by pocketing roughly $100 million from Mango Markets
- He’s also disputing the venue of the conviction
Two years after being taken to court for pocketing roughly $100 million from Mango Markets, Avraham Eisenberg still maintains that he did nothing wrong and now wants the court to set him free. In a 77-page court filing, Eisenberg questioned why he’s being tried in a New York court yet no one from that jurisdiction was affected by his actions. He’s also disputing wire fraud charges saying that the prosecution didn’t provide evidence of interstate wire transfers, a case that tries to make DeFi protocol developers responsible for any weaknesses in their protocols.
Government “Failed to Prove” Manipulation Claims
Eisenberg is also seeking his case to be dismissed because the government “failed to prove that the Commodities Exchange Act […] applied in this case,” adding that this nullifies charges of commodities fraud and manipulation.
On commodities manipulation, he argued that the prosecution failed to show that he intended to manipulate the “market price of the MNGO Perpetual.” The filing also noted that the prosecution relied on theories that couldn’t be applied to Mango Markets due to its decentralized nature.
In case an acquittal fails, Eisenberg wants the court to grant him a new trial “because of various errors in the jury instructions and because of false and misleading arguments made by the government in summation.”
Eisenberg Found Guilty
In April, Eisenberg was found guilty of commodities fraud, manipulation, and wire fraud and could face up to 20 years in prison. The United States commodities regulator, CFTC, and the country’s Justice Department are some of the entities that brought charges against Eisenberg.
Since exploiting the DeFi protocol, Eisenberg has maintained that he intends to keep part of the stolen funds saying that what he did constituted “legal market actions.”
I believe all of our actions were legal open market actions, using the protocol as designed, even if the development team did not fully anticipate all the consequences of setting parameters the way they are.
— Avraham Eisenberg (@avi_eisen) October 15, 2022
With a jury finding Eisenberg guilty, it’s to be seen how the court will handle his request.
