A British judge has rejected former Saitama CEO Manpreet Kohli's attempt to block his extradition to the United States, where he faces charges connected to an alleged crypto market-manipulation scheme.

According to a report by Reuters, Judge Samuel Goozee dismissed Kohli's challenge on August 19 and referred the case to the U.K. government, which must now decide on the U.S. extradition request. Kohli can appeal the ruling, meaning his extradition is not yet final. He remains free on £200,000 bail, approximately $272,400.

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 at one point reached a reported market capitalization of $7.5 billion.

Kohli contested extradition in part by arguing that U.S. authorities could not adequately address his mental health and his risk of suicide in custody. Judge Goozee found that safeguards during his transfer and within the U.S. prison system could reduce that risk to an acceptable level.

The extradition decision follows a separate ruling in Boston earlier this month, where a federal judge rejected Kohli's attempt 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 a request for comment by Decrypt.

Kohli's case stems from a broader prosecution targeting alleged crypto market manipulation that has drawn in multiple defendants, exchanges, and market-making firms, underscoring how U.S. authorities have increasingly treated wash trading as a criminal fraud issue rather than a purely market-integrity problem. On October 9, 2024—two days after Kohli's arrest in London—the Justice Department announced charges under "Operation Token Mirrors," an investigation into alleged fraud and wash trading, meaning coordinated transactions designed to create artificial volume.

Wash trading refers to the practice of repeatedly buying and selling the same asset to inflate trading volume without any legitimate market activity, using multiple accounts or by colluding with others.

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 to manipulating token prices and volumes for clients including Saitama. In June 2025, the company was ordered to forfeit $23 million, while founder Aleksei Andriunin was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Kohli has not been convicted of the charges against him.