Former Bithumb Chairman Faces Eight-Yr Jail Sentence For $85 Million Fraud

In a current improvement, South Korean prosecutors have requested an eight-year jail sentence for Lee Jung-hoon, the previous chairman of the board of administrators of Bithumb, the nation’s second-largest cryptocurrency change. 

The fees towards Lee Jung-hoon contain violations of legal guidelines and laws associated to particular financial crimes, particularly fraud. The prosecution claims that Lee deceived BXA (Bithumb’s native coin) by falsely promising co-management and itemizing help to BK Group Chairman Kim Byung-gun.

Bithumb Scandal Deepens

The prosecution alleges that Lee’s actions resulted in roughly 110 billion gained (round $85 million) in damages. They argue that Lee allegedly deliberate to shift the management of Bithumb to overseas firms to profit from the change’s cryptocurrency whereas evading monetary laws. 

The prosecution additional asserts that Lee possessed vital data imbalances and “deliberately handed” on numerous dangers to the co-acquirer.

Through the trial, the prosecution emphasised that Lee was conscious of the difficulties in itemizing the BXA coin however failed to tell the sufferer. They contend that Lee deliberately omitted particulars relating to the challenges and introduced deceptive data through the contract negotiations. 

The protection, nevertheless, argues that there are inconsistencies within the sufferer’s statements and factors out that the sufferer initially proposed the acquisition of Bithumb.

The protection additionally disputes the prosecution’s declare that President Kim, BK Group’s chairman, was unaware of BXA coin’s itemizing progress. They argue that President Kim exchanged messages with witnesses in January 2019, indicating his consciousness of the itemizing course of.

Lee Jung-Hoon’s Last Plea

In his remaining assertion, Lee regretted the state of affairs, stating that he believed President Kim would lead the corporate nicely and assist it develop. He claimed to have acted in good religion as a vendor and requested an extension to meet his obligations however was unexpectedly sued.

The trial for Lee Jung-hoon is ready to proceed, with the enchantment scheduled for January 18 subsequent yr. 

This case is one amongst a number of scandals involving Bithumb executives. Notably, the proprietor of Bithumb, Kang Jong-hyun, was additionally just lately arrested on fees of embezzlement and inventory manipulation. 

The authorities have been cracking down on cryptocurrency-related crimes in South Korea, aiming to take care of integrity and safety inside the trade.

The present complete market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is $1.342 trillion, representing a -2.24% change over the previous 24 hours. Nonetheless, in comparison with the market cap from a yr in the past, there was a outstanding 64.81% improve, indicating the trade’s long-term upward trajectory.

Bitcoin (BTC) stays the dominant drive out there, with a market capitalization of $709 billion, accounting for 49.59% of the full market cap, in accordance with CoinGecko information. 

Featured picture from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com