Lee Jung-Hoon acquitted
2023.01.03 14:21
Lee Jung-Hoon acquitted
Budrigannews.com – On January 3, the 34th Division of the Criminal Agreement of the Seoul Central District Court found Lee Jung-hoon, the former chair of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, not guilty.
Due to fraud, Jung-Hoon was being tried for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Since October 2018, when the former chairman allegedly defrauded Kim Byung-gun, chairman of the cosmetic surgery company BK Group, of 100 billion won (about $70 million), the case has been ongoing.
If Jung-hoon had been found guilty, he could have been sentenced to eight years in prison. In its official response to the decision, Bithumb stated that it respects the court’s decision, as reported by the local press.
In addition, the exchange made it clear that the company is run by “professional managers” and that the former chairman is not involved in the current operations.
Park Mo, Bithumb’s largest shareholder executive, was found dead on December 30 after receiving allegations of stock price manipulation and embezzlement.
These developments came after Singaporean courts decided in August 2022 that Byung-gun was guilty of selling BXA tokens without Jung-hoon’s permission.
He was ordered by the ruling to repay the Singapore-based group BTHMB for all proceeds from the sale of BXA.
During the turmoil in the Terra ecosystem later in October 2022, Jung-hoon failed to attend a parliamentary hearing citing a mental health condition.
Bithumb was one of the businesses that South Korean authorities raided after Terra Luna failed.
In the event of a feature Terra-like incident, South Korean exchanges established an emergency system after the collapse. All local exchanges must now list tokens following the same guidelines to comply with local regulations.
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