Lee Jung-hoon, the former chairman of Bithumb, is now free of all charges in South Korea. He was alleged to have defrauded the business of $70 million during the acquisition of the crypto exchange.
On Jan. 3, Lee Jung-hoon, the former chairman of the South Korean bitcoin exchange Bithumb, was found not guilty by the 34th Division of the Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court. The previous chair was alleged to have defrauded the business of $70 million during the acquisition of Bithumb.
Jung-Hoon was charged with violating the act on specific economic crimes due to fraud. The case has been active since October 2018, when the former chairman was charged with cheating Kim Byung-gun, the head of the cosmetic surgery company BK Group, of 100 billion won ($70 million).
According to local media sources, Jung-hoon is now free of all the charges. He could have served an 8-year sentence if found guilty. Bithumb allegedly said it respects the court’s judgment in its formal response to the verdict. The exchange also pointed out that the present activities are under “professional management” and that the prior chairman is not involved in them.
On Dec. 30, almost a week before the ruling, Park Mo, the CEO of Bithumb with the most significant shareholding, was found dead after being charged with embezzlement and stock price manipulation.
Byung-gun’s previous troubles
Byung-gun was found guilty of selling BXA tokens with Jung-hoon’s consent in an August 2022 court decision from Singapore, which prompted these modifications. The judge ordered him to transfer all of the proceeds from the sale of BXA to the Singapore-based organization BTHMB.
Later in October 2022, Jung-hoon presented a mental condition as his justification for skipping a legislative meeting during the upheaval in the Terran environment. After Terra Luna filed for bankruptcy, south Korean authorities inspected multiple firms, including Bithumb.
South Korean exchanges devised an emergency protocol after the collapse to prevent another tumble similar to that in Terra. To ensure conformity with national legislation, all regional transactions must now provide tokens that comply with the same rules.
