A London judge ruled on August 19 that Manpreet Kohli, 45, the British-based chief executive of Saitama, must face extradition to the U.S. to answer charges of wire fraud and market manipulation. Judge Samuel Goozee rejected Kohli's defense that U.S. custody posed an unacceptable suicide risk, finding that adequate mental health safeguards were in place.
Kohli was arrested in London in 2024 after U.S. prosecutors accused him and more than a dozen others of orchestrating a scheme involving the Saitama token, an Ethereum-based asset that at its peak had a market value of $7.5 billion. Prosecutors alleged that Kohli and his co-conspirators publicly claimed to hold and purchase Saitama tokens while privately selling them for millions of dollars in profit, generating around $20 million in illicit gains.
The case stems from a U.S. investigation in which the FBI created a digital token to uncover criminal activity, marking an unconventional approach to financial crime detection. Earlier in August, a federal judge in Boston denied Kohli's motion to dismiss the indictment, ruling that the Saitama token could be subject to U.S. securities law despite arguments to the contrary.
Kohli had sought to block extradition on grounds related to his mental health, citing concerns about suicide risk in U.S. custody. Judge Goozee dismissed this argument, stating that arrangements were in place to mitigate such risks during transit and imprisonment. Kohli was released on bail of £200,000, equivalent to approximately $272,420 at the time of the ruling, pending further legal proceedings.
