A U.K. judge has rejected former Saitama CEO Manpreet Kohli’s attempt to avoid extradition to the United States, where he faces charges linked to an alleged crypto market-manipulation scheme.
According to Reuters, Judge Samuel Goozee denied Kohli’s challenge on August 19 and sent the matter to the U.K. government for a decision on the U.S. extradition request. Kohli can still appeal, which means the extradition is not yet final. He remains free on £200,000 bail, about $272,400.
U.S. charges focus on alleged manipulation tied to Saitama
U.S. prosecutors have charged Kohli with wire fraud, market manipulation, related conspiracy offenses, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The charges concern Saitama, an Ethereum-based token that once reportedly reached a market capitalization of $7.5 billion.
As part of his challenge to extradition, Kohli argued that U.S. authorities could not adequately address his mental health condition and the risk of suicide in custody. Goozee found that safeguards during transfer and within the U.S. prison system could reduce that risk to an acceptable level.
Earlier Boston ruling also went against Kohli
The extradition move follows a separate ruling in Boston earlier this month. In that case, a federal judge rejected Kohli’s effort to have the indictment dismissed after he argued that the Saitama token could not legally be classified as a security under U.S. law.
Attorneys for Kohli did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
Case is tied to Operation Token Mirrors
The case against Kohli grew out of an earlier crackdown targeting alleged manipulation in crypto markets.
On October 9, 2024, two days after Kohli’s arrest in London, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges under Operation Token Mirrors. The investigation targeted alleged fraud and wash trading, meaning coordinated transactions designed to create artificial trading volume.
Wash trading refers to repeated buying and selling of the same asset, often through multiple accounts or in coordination with others, to inflate volume without legitimate market activity.
According to the Justice Department, 18 individuals, including Kohli, coordinated token purchases across multiple wallets and paid ZM Quant and Gotbit to wash trade on several exchanges. Prosecutors allege that the executives publicly denied selling their holdings while privately offloading tokens for millions of dollars. They say Kohli made approximately $20 million.
Gotbit later admitted manipulation for clients including Saitama
Gotbit later admitted to manipulating token prices and trading volumes for clients including Saitama. In June 2025, the company was ordered to forfeit $23 million, and founder Aleksei Andriunin was sentenced to eight months in prison.
