On September 18, prosecutors from the Southern District of New York (SDNY) submitted a motion opposing Avraham Eisenberg’s request for acquittal or a new trial following his exploitation of Mango Markets. The SDNY’s filing contends that the jury made the correct decision, having assessed a substantial body of evidence, starting with the prosecution’s claim that Mango’s perpetual swaps fall under the Commodities Exchange Act.
The federal attorneys emphasized that Eisenberg’s defense — which argued that the fraud charges were inapplicable because he did not attempt to manipulate the market price of the underlying asset — was fundamentally flawed. They highlighted the jury instructions regarding price manipulation. The SDNY lawyers stated:
In addition, the prosecutors dismissed the defense’s challenge to jurisdiction, asserting that the Southern District of New York had the authority to prosecute the case due to the presence of key Mango Markets employees in Manhattan.
Source: Court Listener.
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The ongoing saga of the Mango Markets hacker
Mango Markets suffered a significant hack on October 11, 2022, which led to the theft of $100 million from the platform and caused the Mango token (MNGO) to plummet by 52% within a single day. Following this high-profile breach, the Mango Markets team confirmed that the incident was triggered by an exploit of a price oracle.
Eisenberg later identified himself as the hacker in a social media thread, defending his actions as “legal open market activities” — a defense his legal team would later present in court.
In December 2022, just two months after the incident, Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico and subsequently charged with fraud and market manipulation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In April 2024, Eisenberg was found guilty of both fraud and market manipulation, facing the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence if the judge imposes the maximum penalty.
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