Lee Jung-Hoon, Former Bithumb Chair Acquitted In First Instance
The 34th Division of the Criminal Agreement of the Seoul Central District Court acquitted former Bithumb chair Lee Jung-hoon on Jan. 3. He was charged with fraud under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Since October 2018, the previous chairman is accused of defrauding 100 billion won ($70 million) during takeover discussions.
The 34th Division of the Criminal Agreement of the Seoul Central District Court said on January 3 that it has found Lee Jung-hoon, the former chair of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb in South Korea, not guilty of the charges brought against him.
Due to allegations of fraud, Jung-Hoon was on trial for allegedly breaking the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (Act on the Aggravated Punishment Of Specific Economic Crimes Act).
Since October 2018, when negotiations for the acquisition of Bithumb from Kim Byung-gun, chairman of the cosmetic surgery company BK Group, were taking place, the case has been ongoing. It is alleged that the former chairman defrauded Kim Byung-gun of 100 billion won ($70 million) during those negotiations.
Should Jung-hoon have been found guilty, the maximum term he might have received was eight years in prison.
According to the local press, in the formal answer that Bithumb provided to the judgement, the company stated that it respects the decision made by the court.
The conversation also made it clear that the company is managed by "professional management" and that the previous chairman is not involved in the day-to-day business activities.
After being accused of stock price manipulation and embezzlement, Bithumb's largest shareholder executive, Park Mo, was discovered dead on December 30, almost a week before the decision was issued.
In August of 2022, courts in Singapore reached a verdict that found Byung-gun guilty of selling BXA tokens without first obtaining Jung-permission. hoon's These recent events are a direct result of that verdict.
As a result of the verdict, he was required to hand up all of the money that he had made through the sale of BXA to the organization BTHMB, which is situated in Singapore.
Later on in the month of October 2022, Jung-hoon cited a mental health issue as the reason he was unable to attend a parliamentary session held during the upheaval that occurred inside the Terra environment.
In the wake of the failure of the Terra Luna cryptocurrency exchange, the South Korean government conducted a search warrant at many businesses, including Bithumb.
Image source: Shutterstock
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