Avraham Eisenberg, who is accused of exploiting the decentralized financial protocol Mango Markets, is trying to hang on to his portion of the cryptocurrency that he acquired through his so-called "highly profitable trading strategy."
Attorneys for Eisenberg filed a motion in a New York District Court objecting to a lawsuit filed by Mango. The lawsuit seeks $47 million in damages plus interest beginning from the time of Eisenberg's attack in October, which drained approximately $117 million from the protocol. The motion was filed in response to a claim made by Mango.
Following the depletion of the Mango DAO's treasury, the Mango DAO voted to approve a governance proposal, which stipulated that the organization would not pursue legal action against Eisenberg and allowed him to keep a portion of the stolen funds (specifically, $47 million) in the form of a bug bounty.
"Eisenberg transferred funds totaling approximately $67 million to Mango Markets," the attorneys wrote. "Weeks later, eligible Mango Markets' members received reimbursement from the Mango Markets treasury. At that point, all involved considered this matter closed and Mr. Eisenberg heard nothing further from Mango Markets."
The attorneys contended that because Eisenberg had negotiated a settlement agreement with Mango DAO, he should not be required to pay back any additional monies to the DeFi platform because the "matter was settled."
Mango, on the other hand, claimed in its lawsuit that the settlement ought to be nullified since it was reached "under duress," and it asserted that Eisenberg "was not engaged in lawful bargaining."
These arguments were shot down by the legal team representing Eisenberg, who stated that the "improper three-month delay" in which Mango filed its lawsuit "undermines any alleged irreparable harm." They claim that the purpose of the case is to "take advantage" of the fact that Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico by United States authorities in December.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused Eisenberg of fraudulently manipulating commodity prices and engaging in other fraudulent activity.
In addition, he is being sued by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly manipulating the market, as well as by the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating securities laws relating to anti-fraud and market manipulation. Both of these lawsuits accuse him of engaging in fraudulent behavior.
Prior to this, Eisenberg has asserted that his trades on Mango were "legal open market actions, using the protocol as designed," and he has referred to his alleged attack as a "highly profitable trading strategy."
