New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit on 5 January against Alex Mashinsky, alleging the co-founder of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network defrauded investors out of billions of dollars of digital currency.

The lawsuit alleges that the former chief executive made false statements to investors about the soundness of Celsius’s financial condition then concealed its dire situation when the lender lost hundreds of millions of dollars in risky investments. Mashinsky falsely claimed that Celsius was safer than a bank and only lent assets to credible entities, the lawsuit said.