Mango Markets exploiter Avraham “Avi” Eisenberg may very well be dealing with over six years in jail, as U.S. prosecutors have pushed for a hefty sentence forward of his Could 1 listening to.
In an April 22 submitting, federal prosecutors informed New York district courtroom Decide Arun Subramanian that Eisenberg’s 2022 exploit of the Solana-based DeFi platform was not a intelligent arbitrage however a premeditated assault that defrauded buyers of over $100 million.
“Fraud that takes over $100 million from buyers and successfully shuts down a enterprise is a surprising violation of prison regulation,” the submitting acknowledged.
Prosecutors are searching for a sentence of 78 to 97 months, roughly six and a half to eight years, citing each the severity of the fraud and Eisenberg’s separate responsible plea in a baby exploitation case. Nonetheless, they emphasised that the crypto-related offenses alone warrant a considerable jail time period.
Eisenberg was convicted in April of wire fraud, commodities fraud, and market manipulation for manipulating the worth of Mango’s governance token, MNGO, and utilizing inflated collateral to empty the protocol’s treasury.
Prosecutors allege that he used false identities and disguised his location, opening an FTX account utilizing a Ukrainian lady’s passport and bypassing KYC checks on AscendEx by deciding on a no-verification choice and masking his IP as being in Poland.
Additional, the submitting pointed to Discord chats the place Eisenberg outlined his plans prematurely, describing how he would “purchase a ton, massively enhance the worth, and borrow on lending,” including that “you don’t have to promote—you possibly can simply let the mortgage stand.”
Though Eisenberg returned round $67 million following a DAO vote, the federal government mentioned it was below the situation that Mango DAO “waive any potential claims” and chorus from pursuing prison expenses.
“This was not returning funds in any real sense of the time period,” prosecutors mentioned, framing the transfer as “a ransom word.”
The submitting additionally touched upon how Eisenberg researched fraud legal guidelines earlier than the assault and fled to Israel hours after being recognized on-line. Later, on social media, he publicly defended his actions, claiming the commerce was authorized, although prosecutors argue he knew in any other case.
“The defendant knew that fraudulent market manipulation is against the law, and that the cryptocurrency house was no exception,” they wrote.
In a separate sufferer impression assertion filed the identical day, attorneys representing Mango Markets urged the courtroom to order Eisenberg to pay $47 million in restitution, arguing that the return of misappropriated funds is crucial to creating the platform’s group complete.
“Though Eisenberg’s assault can’t be undone, return of the funds he misappropriated is vital to righting his incorrect,” the submitting acknowledged.
Mango Markets shut down in early 2025 following a unanimous group vote, citing the long-term impression of the exploit and ongoing authorized fallout.
