Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky arrested and charged with fraud

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius, has been arrested and charged with fraud, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.

Mashinsky was charged with seven criminal counts, including securities, commodities and wire fraud, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan. He allegedly misled Celsius customers about the company's business, including how it would use their money, while depicting the lender as a bank when in fact it operated as a risky investment fund, according to the indictment.

Both Mashinsky and Roni Cohen-Pavon, Celsius's former chief revenue officer, were charged with manipulating the price of Celsius's proprietary crypto token, while covertly selling their own tokens at artificially inflated prices.

Mashinsky didn't immediately return a request for comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated. 

Sanvi Bangalore is a business reporting intern for CBS MoneyWatch. She attends American University in Washington, D.C., and is studying business administration and journalism.