Ex-SafeMoon CEO claims innocence, blames founder as trial begins

John Karony took to social media as his criminal trial for fraud and money laundering charges began in New York.

Braden John Karony, the former CEO of crypto firm SafeMoon, made an out-of-court statement claiming innocence as his criminal trial began in New York.

In a May 6 X post after court proceedings had likely ended for the day, Karony said he was innocent and “did not commit fraud” in response to media coverage of his trial. The former CEO, as well as SafeMoon creator Kyle Nagy and former chief technology officer Thomas Smith, were charged in 2023 for having allegedly “diverted and misappropriated millions of dollars’ worth” of the platform’s SFM token.

According to reporting from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) on May 6, Karony implied that Nagy, who reportedly fled to Russia after authorities filed charges, was responsible for some of the alleged fraud at SafeMoon. On the first day of the trial, after jury selection, Smith reportedly appeared as a witness for the prosecution with a SafeMoon victim.

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