A London court has rejected Manpreet Kohli's bid to block his extradition to the United States, where he faces wire fraud and market manipulation charges tied to the Saitama cryptocurrency token. The case now goes to British ministers, who typically approve such transfers as a formality.
Manpreet Kohli, the 45-year-old Indian national who led the Saitama crypto project, lost his fight against extradition from the UK to the US last week. He now faces trial on charges brought by American prosecutors over his role at Saitama, a company that promoted a token on the ethereum blockchain.
Saitama token reached $7.5 billion in value
Kohli was the leader of Saitama, a token that at one point had a market value of $7.5 billion. He was arrested in London in 2024 after US prosecutors accused him and more than a dozen others of engaging in widespread fraud, following an investigation in which the FBI, for the first time, set up a digital token to catch crime.
Prosecutors allege Kohli and his co-conspirators claimed to be holding and purchasing Saitama tokens while privately selling them for millions of dollars in profit. Kohli is said to have made around $20 million from the scheme.
Judge rejects mental health argument
Kohli fought the extradition partly on the grounds that the US lacks adequate measures to prevent him from taking his own life in custody. But Judge Samuel Goozee rejected that challenge on August 19 and referred the case to British ministers to decide whether to order the extradition, a step that is usually a formality.
Judge Goozee said in his ruling: "appropriate arrangements in place both during transit and within the prison system" exist to manage Kohli's mental health and reduce suicide risk to an acceptable level.
Kohli remains free on £200,000 ($272,420) bail and can appeal the ruling. He could not be reached for comment. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Boston also rejected his bid to have the indictment dismissed on the grounds that the Saitama token cannot legally be considered a security under US securities law.
Source: Investing.com
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