Bithumb's real owner acquitted of '100 billion won fraud charges'... Here's why
Summary
- Lee Jung-hoon, former chairman of Bithumb, has been acquitted of '100 billion won fraud charges'.
- The court ruled not guilty, determining that the contract signing was insufficient to be considered fraud under criminal law.
- The court noted that while there were some exaggerated statements related to civil liability, these were not considered grounds for criminal prosecution.
The real owner of cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has been acquitted of charges of committing fraud worth 100 billion won.
According to legal circles on the 17th, the Supreme Court's 1st Division (presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) finalized the lower court's verdict of not guilty for Lee Jung-hoon, former chairman of the board of Bithumb Holdings and Bithumb Korea, who was indicted on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Lee was indicted on charges of defrauding Kim, chairman of BK Group, of approximately 112 billion won as a contract deposit by falsely promising to issue the so-called 'Bithumb coin' (BXA) and list it on Bithumb when proposing the acquisition of Bithumb in October 2018. Prosecutors found that Kim believed Lee's promise and used part of the proceeds from pre-selling BXA to purchase Bithumb shares, but BXA was never listed on Bithumb and Kim's acquisition of Bithumb fell through.
The first trial acquitted Lee, ruling there was insufficient evidence to prove that Lee had guaranteed the listing of BXA to Kim. The second trial also ruled not guilty, stating that "while some exaggerated statements and violations of disclosure obligations may be partially considered in relation to civil liability, they are insufficient to consider the contract itself as fraud punishable under criminal law." The Supreme Court found no issues with this verdict.
Ahn Hye-won, Hankyung.com reporter anhw@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
hankyung@bloomingbit.ioThe Korea Economic Daily Global is a digital media where latest news on Korean companies, industries, and financial markets.
