'112 Billion Fraud' Charges Against Bithumb's Lee Jung-hoon, First Trial Verdict Today

Prosecution Requests Court to Sentence 8 Years Imprisonment

Lee Jung-hoon, the former chairman of the Bithumb Korea board and the actual owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, who was indicted on charges of fraud involving 100 billion won, is attending a continuation of the first trial held at the Seoul Central District Court on October 4 last year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The sentencing trial for the actual owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, who has been indicted on fraud charges involving 100 billion won, is set to take place.

According to the court on the 3rd, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Chief Judge Kang Gyutae) will conduct the sentencing trial for Lee Jeonghoon, former chairman of the Bithumb Korea board, who was indicted on fraud charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The sentencing trial, originally scheduled for December 20 last year, was postponed to this day.

At the previous closing arguments, the prosecutor requested the court to sentence him to 8 years in prison. The prosecutor emphasized, "The amount of damage is very large, especially the damage to ordinary coin investors is significant," and added, "The defendant continues to deny the crime, and the nature of the offense is serious, so a heavy sentence should be imposed."

The former chairman’s lawyer argued, "The structure of this case is a typical stock trading contract," and claimed that the contract was faithfully carried out according to the usual procedures. He also asserted that BK Group Chairman Kim filed a complaint against the former chairman to avoid criminal responsibility.

In his final statement, the former chairman said, "At the time of sale, Bithumb was the number one exchange in Korea," and "The contract was concluded based on a contract drafted by lawyers from a major law firm that was appointed." He added, "I sincerely apologize for causing difficulties to the employees and social harm," and "I never made any promises or deceived anyone that would cause problems at the time of the company sale."

The former chairman was indicted on charges of embezzling about 112 billion won as a deposit by deceiving Chairman Kim in October 2018, proposing the acquisition of Bithumb and promising to issue so-called 'Bithumb Coin' (BXA) and list it on Bithumb. It was investigated that Chairman Kim, who trusted the former chairman, used part of the funds obtained from the pre-sale of BXA as capital to purchase Bithumb shares.

However, BXA was not listed on Bithumb, and Chairman Kim’s acquisition of Bithumb also fell through. Victims who invested in BXA filed complaints against both the former chairman and Chairman Kim, but the investigative authorities judged that Chairman Kim was also a victim deceived by the former chairman and did not punish him.