'Bithumb Lee Jung-hoon Acquitted of Fraud Charges Involving Approximately 110 Billion Won'

[Verdict]

Lee Jeong-hoon, former chairman of the board of Bithumb Holdings and Bithumb Korea, who was prosecuted on charges of embezzling investment funds worth about 100 billion KRW under the pretext of listing a cryptocurrency (coin), was acquitted.

The Supreme Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) on March 13 upheld the lower court’s verdict of acquittal in the final appeal trial of Lee, who was indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) and other charges (2024Do2200).

[Facts and Lower Court Judgments]

Lee was accused of proposing the acquisition of Bithumb to Kim Byung-geon, chairman of BK Medical Group, in October 2018 by claiming he would list the BXA coin on Bithumb, and embezzling about 1 billion USD (approximately 129.8 billion KRW) as a deposit. Kim filed a fraud complaint against Lee after the BXA coin listing was canceled due to financial regulatory issues.

The first trial court acquitted Lee, ruling that there was no evidence to prove that he guaranteed the listing of BXA to Kim.

The appellate court also stated, "Considering all the evidence and testimonies of related parties, the lower court’s acquittal is reasonable." It further explained, "The contract between the defendant (Lee) and the victim was made after review by lawyers on both sides, and based on the testimonies of related parties, the prosecution’s allegations lack sufficient evidence to be considered guilty."

The appellate court acknowledged, "It is recognized that the defendant gained economic benefits through this contract and its amendments, while the victim suffered economic losses," and added, "It is true that there is sympathy for the victim who suffered damages, and the prosecutor’s reason for indicting on fraud charges is understandable." However, it explained, "Information asymmetry and insufficient disclosure during the contract process may be considered as civil liability, but this case is insufficient to be regarded as fraud punishable under criminal law."

[Supreme Court Judgment (Summary)]

The Supreme Court also found no problem with this ruling.

The court stated, "The lower court maintained the first trial’s acquittal judgment, reasoning that the evidence submitted by the prosecution alone could not credibly prove the victim’s testimony, the guarantee of listing, the global exchange alliance business, payment of stock purchase price through sales proceeds, or the defendant’s fraudulent acts and resulting victim’s error regarding the joint management of Bithumb Korea by the defendant and the victim, and thus found no proof of the crime alleged," and added, "There is no error in the lower court’s judgment."

Reporter An Jae-myung, Legal Newspaper

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.