Saitama CEO could be extradited to US over $7.5B token case

Saitama chief executive Manpreet Kohli has lost his UK court challenge against extradition to the United States, where prosecutors have charged him with wire fraud and cryptocurrency market manipulation tied to a token once valued at $7.5 billion.

Reuters reported that Judge Samuel Goozee rejected Kohli’s challenge on Aug. 19 and sent the case to British ministers, who will decide whether to order his extradition. The 45-year-old Indian national remains free on £200,000 ($272,420) bail and can appeal the ruling.

Kohli led Saitama, a cryptocurrency company that promoted an Ethereum-based token that at one point reached a market capitalization of about $7.5 billion. U.S. prosecutors allege Kohli and other people involved with the project publicly claimed they were buying and holding Saitama tokens while privately selling their holdings for millions of dollars.

Prosecutors allege Kohli made about $20 million through the scheme.

Saitama CEO loses UK extradition challenge

During the extradition proceedings, Kohli argued that safeguards in the United States would not adequately address the risk that he could take his own life while in custody.

Goozee rejected that argument after considering arrangements for Kohli during transit and within the U.S. prison system.

“I find there are clearly appropriate arrangements in place both during transit and within the prison system in the U.S.,” Goozee said, adding that they could manage Kohli’s mental health and reduce the suicide risk “to an acceptable level.”

Following the Aug. 19 decision, Kohli’s case has been referred to British ministers for the next stage of the extradition process. Ministerial approval generally follows a court ruling allowing extradition, although Kohli can still appeal.

Kohli was arrested in London in 2024 after U.S. prosecutors charged him in a case involving more than a dozen individuals and companies accused of manipulating cryptocurrency markets.

The investigation also produced an unusual enforcement operation in which the FBI created its own cryptocurrency and used undercover agents to approach market makers suspected of offering services designed to fabricate trading activity.

As crypto.news previously reported in October 2024, the agency created NexFundAI as part of Operation Token Mirrors to investigate wash trading and pump-and-dump activity. The operation resulted in charges against 18 individuals and entities, while authorities moved to seize about $25 million in cryptocurrency.

Saitama was among the crypto projects examined during the investigation. U.S. authorities alleged that people connected with the token used market manipulation alongside misleading statements about their own trading to attract investors.

FBI token operation targeted fake trading volume

Under Operation Token Mirrors, undercover FBI agents posed as members of the NexFundAI project and approached market makers about generating trading activity for the token.

The agency used a real Ethereum-based token, a project website and other materials as part of the operation. Market makers contacted during the investigation allegedly offered services that could create artificial trading volume through wash trades, where coordinated transactions can make activity appear higher than genuine market demand.

In May 2026, renewed attention to the investigation detailed how FBI agents approached market makers while posing as the team behind NexFundAI. Firms named in connection with the operation included Gotbit, MyTrade, CLS Global and ZM Quant.

According to information covered by crypto.news, one allegation involving Gotbit concerned an offer to push NexFundAI trading volume to as much as $1 million per day. Undercover agents collected evidence of the services while the token traded publicly.

Federal prosecutors said the operation uncovered arrangements in which companies agreed to generate artificial trades and volume for crypto tokens. The investigation later resulted in criminal charges, guilty pleas and financial penalties against several defendants.

Saitama’s case involved allegations against both people associated with the project and firms accused of manipulating trading activity for client tokens. Prosecutors accused Kohli and his co-conspirators of telling investors that they were buying or holding Saitama while secretly selling tokens for profit.

Russell Armand and Maxwell Hernandez, who were also involved with Saitama, later pleaded guilty to criminal charges connected to the government’s investigation, according to U.S. authorities.

Gotbit admitted manipulating Saitama trading activity

Gotbit, one of the market makers caught up in the federal investigation, admitted providing wash trading services between 2018 and 2024.

The company manipulated trading volume for client cryptocurrencies, including Saitama and Robo Inu, according to prosecutors. Authorities said Gotbit used multiple accounts as part of its operations and received tens of millions of dollars from clients for its services.

Founder and CEO Aleksei Andriunin was sentenced to eight months in prison in June 2025 after pleading guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation.

Andriunin, a dual Russian and Portuguese citizen, had been arrested in Portugal in October 2024 and extradited to the United States in February 2025. Under his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit about $23 million in stablecoins held in crypto wallets linked to Gotbit.

Gotbit Consulting was ordered to cease operations and received five years of probation. Andriunin also received one year of supervised release and was barred from crypto-related activity during that period.

Another market maker involved in Operation Token Mirrors, CLS Global, faced criminal penalties after admitting to wash trading involving the FBI-created NexFundAI token.

A Boston federal court sentenced CLS Global in April 2025 and ordered the UAE-registered company to pay $428,000. The firm also received three years of probation after pleading guilty to charges involving manipulation of trading volume for NexFundAI.

The Securities and Exchange Commission separately pursued civil cases against several companies and individuals connected to the investigation.

Kohli also tried to dismiss US indictment

Alongside his extradition fight in Britain, Kohli challenged the criminal case pending against him in federal court in Boston.

Earlier in August, a U.S. federal judge rejected his attempt to dismiss the indictment based on an argument concerning the legal status of the Saitama token.

Kohli had argued that Saitama could not legally be treated as a security subject to U.S. securities laws and that charges relying on that classification should therefore be dismissed. The judge rejected the bid, leaving the indictment in place.

U.S. prosecutors have charged Kohli with offenses tied to alleged wire fraud and market manipulation. The claims against him remain allegations and have not been proven at trial.

The SEC also filed a civil enforcement action in October 2024 against Kohli and other people associated with Saitama. The regulator accused project promoters of making public statements about Saitama while participating in activity intended to manipulate trading in Saitama Inu and SaitaRealty.

Kohli has remained in the United Kingdom since his arrest under the conditions of his £200,000 bail. After Goozee rejected his extradition challenge on Aug. 19, the case was sent to British ministers to determine whether an extradition order should be issued, while Kohli retains the option to appeal the ruling.