After a three-month court battle by The Times of Israel, together with Britain’s The Financial Times, and separately, the Haaretz newspaper, an Israeli judge has lifted a gag order on two more of ten suspects arrested on November 18 as part of an alleged crypto scam that defrauded victims worldwide of colossal sums of money. Their names are Yaron Shalem and Ido Sadeh Man.
Neither responded to a request for comment from The Times of Israel. Shalem was a vice president at the venture capital firm Singulariteam, and until recently the CFO of Celsius Network, a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency lending platform. Sadeh Man is the founder of the Saga cryptocurrency company.
Lawyers for Shalem told the Financial Times he “acted in accordance with the law and strongly and utterly rejects any attempt to associate him with any act of fraud.” They added: “Our client is certain that at the end of the investigation, it will be found that he had committed no wrongdoing.”
Celsius Network has stressed that Shalem’s alleged offenses are unrelated to his period with the firm; it said he was suspended when Celsius learned that he was being investigated and is no longer employed by the firm.
The two men, whose names were barred by the courts from publication prior to Tuesday, are suspected along with the other eight of “carrying out investor fraud through a number of cryptocurrency enterprises” and pocketing tens of millions of shekels. The charges facing the ten…
