| On Coinbase
Wahi Defense Said It Would Move to Dismiss
Then Pled Guilty Now 10 Months
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 10 – In what at
least the defense is calling a
novel crypto currency
prosecution for insider
trader, Ishan Wahi and Nikhil
Wahi of Coinbase were
arraigned on August 3, and
their lawyer(s) made arguments
about moving to dismiss.
Both Wahi initial bond orders,
12 pages, on Patreon here
On January 10,
2023, after pleading guilty,
Wahi was sentenced to 10
months: " Defendant Nikhil
Wahi present with his attorney
Priya Chaudhry. AUSA Noah
Soloweijczyk present. The
defendant is sentenced to: 10
months incarceration followed
by 2 years of supervised
release. All standard terms
and conditions of supervised
release with the special
conditions of: obeying the
immigration laws and searches.
Forfeiture in the amount of
$892,500.00; special
assessment in the amount of
$100 to be paid promptly.
Restitution deferred for 90
days. The defendant is to
surrender to the facility
designated no later than
February 6, 2023."
Inner City Press
live tweeted the earlier
proceeding, here
OK - as promised,
now Co*nbase Wahi's
arraignment, before
SDNY Judge Preska. Both
defendants plead not guilty.
AUSA
Solowiejczyk: We proposed a $1
million bond for Ishan Wahi,
secured by funds in a
brokerage account,
approximately $150,000 when
liquidated.
AUSA: Can
transfer funds to pay
attorneys' fees. [Why then did
also crypto Eddy Alexandre
today say his lawyer Bove is
paid by "friends" / investors
because all of his assets are
frozen?
AUSA: For Nikhil
Wahi, the security is
$75,000.
Nikhil Wahi's
counsel [Priya Chaudhry, who
also represented Jen Shah of
#RHOSLC, who recently pled
guilty -- despite Judge Sidney
H. Stein's order, her
unredacted sentencing memo has
yet to be put into the docket]
Wahi's
counsel: This is not insider
trading. There are no
securities. There is a case
before Judge Furman, US v.
Chastain. [Inner City Press
also covering that]. We intend
to move to dismiss as this is
not an insider trading case...
Wahi's counsel:
Co*nbase was testing the
tokens, people knew about it.
So there's no property, and
therefore no wire fraud issue.
We will move to dismiss. Mr.
Wahi was stopped at the
airport and his electronics
were seized under a forthwith
grand jury subpoena
Wahi's counsel:
We expect robust motions.
AUSA: This prosecution is
consistent with Carpenter
& its progeny... All
devices were lawfully obtained
& searched.
Wahi's counsel:
We'd like motions due in Jan,
replies Feb 13.
The Court: And
we'll get together March 22 at
10. Adjourned.
Previously, the
US Attorney's Office said it
was "charging ISHAN WAHI, a
former product manager at
Coinbase Global, Inc.
(“Coinbase”), NIKHIL WAHI, and
SAMEER RAMANI, with wire fraud
conspiracy and wire fraud in
connection with a scheme to
commit insider trading in
cryptocurrency assets by using
confidential Coinbase
information about which crypto
assets were scheduled to be
listed on Coinbase’s
exchanges."
On September 12,
this: "Change of Not Guilty
Plea to Guilty Plea as to
Nikhil Wahi (2) Count 1... The
defendant withdraws his
previous plea of not guilty
and enters a plea of guilty to
Count One of the Indictment.
Sentencing scheduled for
December 13, 2022 at 12:00 pm.
"
In mid November,
Wahi's motion for permission
to travel pre-sentencing was
denied, in part because filed
late: "MEMO ENDORSEMENT as to
Nikhil Wahi (2) denying [52]
LETTER MOTION addressed to
Judge Loretta A. Preska from
Priya Chaudhry dated
11.11.2022 re: Permission to
Travel to San Fransisco.
ENDORSEMENT: Mr. Wahi's
request for approval to travel
is denied due, among other
things, to the lateness of the
request. (Signed by Judge
Loretta A. Preska)."
The case is US v.
Wahi, et al., 22-cr-392
(Preska)
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a
month helps keep us going and grants you
access to exclusive bonus material on our
Patreon page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
