Celsius withdraws motion to hire CFO back at $92,000 a month

Lending platform Celsius in trouble pulls out Motion to Reinstate Former CFO Rod Bolger $92,000 per month, prorated over a period of at least 6 weeks According to court documents It was filed in the Southern District of New York on Friday. The notice of withdrawal came just before a hearing scheduled for Monday to consider it.

Bolger worked for the company full-time as CFO, original motion show His base salary was $750,000, with cash bonuses up to 75% of base, depending on performance, which, in addition to stock and token options, brought his total earnings range up to about $1.3 million. The filing also shows that Bolger is technically still on the company’s payroll.

“On June 30, 2022, Mr Bolger notified the debtor of his voluntary termination of employment.” read the filing“Pursuant to the terms of his dismissal notice and his employment contract (defined below), Mr. Bolger was required to give eight weeks’ notice to the debtor, which he has done, and which he continues to be employed by the company.” I will work as a member of the debtor.”

If the motion was approved, it is unclear whether Bolger was likely to receive compensation of $62,500 (his base monthly salary) in addition to the $92,000 monthly consulting fee that Celsius requested. Bolger said he would continue to work as an employee of the company, but also said he was “not entitled to severance pay.”

CNBC reached out to Celsius to ask about the terms of the proposed motion, but did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted after hours.

A decision to dismiss the claim was made after three days CNBC first reported on the request To enlist Bolger’s help as a consultant during the bankruptcy process. again, Formal objection filed by Keith Sackno, a CPA and Celsius investor, disputed the move by Celsius, arguing that “few details” were given as to why Bolger’s services were necessary in bankruptcy proceedings.

with original motion, Celsius said that he needed Bolger as an advisor to help him navigate the bankruptcy proceedings, “because Mr. Bolger is familiar with the debtor’s business.” During Bolger’s tenure, he spearheaded efforts to stabilize the business amid this year’s market volatility, guided the financial side of the business, and acted as the company’s leader.

bolger Former CFO of Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of America divisionshad previously been with Celsius for five months, but then resigned on June 30, about three weeks later. The platform has suspended all withdrawals.

Amid Sackno’s objections to bringing Bolger back to guide bankruptcy proceedings, he alleges in a company blog post titled that Bolger “misrepresented the financial situation and liquidity” of Celsius. “Meeting Rod Bolger, CFO of Celsius” It was published 5 days before the platform freezes Withdrawal due to “extreme market conditions”.

In that post, which was also reviewed by CNBC, Bolger said in a print interview that Celsius’ “strong liquidity framework, well-established liquidity data practices, and modeling” are in line with other large financial institutions. I was.

This puts us in a strong position to weather the recent market turmoil and make digital assets freely and clearly available to clients who need access to them. Continuation of Bolger’s quote in Celsius’ blog postThe following Monday the platform stopped all withdrawals and transfers.

Meanwhile, two days after that blog post and three days before Celsius freezes customer funds on its platform, Bolger was featured in Celsius’s weekly Ask Anything show on YouTubethe company said it welcomes the regulation.

We believe in transparency. Blockchain is about transparency. said in

We have voluntarily disclosed a lot of financial information. Basel stylethese are basically the standards that banks set, Bolger continued, adding that Celsius has already assessed market and operational risks and can continue to build a level of trust in the community. I was.

The video was released on Friday, June 10th, and the following day, Monday, June 13th, Celsius closed the on/off ramp to user funds. Celsius owes users about $4.7 billion. According to the bankruptcy filing.

CNBC sent multiple requests to Bolger on two different platforms, but did not immediately respond to comments.

After Bolger stepped down as CFO, Celsius subsequently appointed Chris Ferraro, who was head of financial planning, analysis and investor relations for Celsius. Within days of his appointment, the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

Once a Giant in Crypto Lending, Celsius Is Now Confronting Claimed to be running a Ponzi scheme By paying early depositors with money earned from new users.

At its peak in October 2021, CEO Alex Mashinsky said: Crypto lenders had $25 billion in assets under management. Currently, Celsius is $167 million in cash on hand It said it would provide “sufficient liquidity” to support operations during the restructuring process.

The filing also shows that Celsius has over 100,000 creditors, some of whom have lent cash to the platform without collateral backing the arrangement. Its list of top 50 unsecured creditors includes Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research.

individual investors filed a petition with the judge Some say their life savings were virtually wiped out to help them regain some of their lost wealth.