A U.S. court sentenced former Coinbase Global product manager Ishan Wahi, accused of insider trading, to two years in prison.
According to a court filing, Ishan Wahi used confidential information he gained access to while working at Coinbase to profit from new token listings totaling up to $1.5 million.
Wahi is scheduled to begin serving his sentence on June 21.
Former Coinbase employee set up insider trading scheme with his brother Nikhil Wahi and partner Sameer Ramani. U.S. authorities arrested Ishan and Nikhil in July 2022 as they tried to flee the country to India.
Wahi’s lawyer pointed to Ishaan’s immigration status in the U.S. and lack of a criminal record.
“I contend that there is no need for this court to impose additional punishment. He lost his job.. He lost his reputation..
He received a tremendous amount of negative information,” said the lawyer.
Wahi also addressed the judge directly, saying that he was “very sorry” for his actions and that he had “made a huge mistake.”
Prosecutors argued that, unlike his brother Nikhil and Ramani, Ishaan was more guilty of orchestrating the scheme.
In January, Nikhil Wahi was sentenced to 10 months in prison for using his family connections to engage in insider trading in crypto-assets.
The court ordered Nikhil to pay a fine of $892,000, equal to the profits made from these transactions.
In March, the Coinbase administration filed a private opinion with the court in the former exchange manager’s case, denying a crime and requesting reconsideration of the decision.
Coinbase management denies that any of the assets to which the former Coinbase manager had access were securities.