A UK judge has rejected former Saitama CEO Manpreet Kohli’s attempt to block his extradition to the United States, according to Reuters, and has passed the case to the British government for a decision on the US request.
Judge Samuel Goozee issued the ruling on Aug. 19. Kohli can still appeal, so extradition has not been finalized. He is currently out on bail after posting £200,000, roughly $272,400.
Judge rejects defense tied to mental health and suicide risk
US prosecutors have charged Kohli with wire fraud, market manipulation, conspiracy related to those offenses, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The case involves Saitama, an Ethereum-based token whose market capitalization once reached about $7.5 billion.
Kohli argued that US authorities would be unable to adequately manage his mental health condition and the risk that he could take his own life while in custody. Goozee found that transfer arrangements and safeguards available in the US prison system would reduce that risk to an acceptable level.
Case tied to Operation Token Mirrors
Before the UK ruling, a federal judge in Boston had already denied Kohli’s motion to dismiss the indictment.
The prosecution is tied to the US Department of Justice’s “Operation Token Mirrors” investigation, launched in October 2024, which focused on fraud and wash trading. Prosecutors said 18 people, including Kohli, coordinated purchases of tokens through multiple wallets and paid ZM Quant and Gotbit to carry out wash trades on several exchanges.
Prosecutors also alleged that Kohli made about $20 million from the scheme.
Gotbit has already admitted manipulation
According to the case details, Gotbit has admitted manipulating token prices and trading volume. In June 2025, the firm was ordered to forfeit $23 million, and its founder, Aleksei Andriunin, was sentenced to eight months in prison.