Jang Hyun-guk, former CEO of Wemade and current CEO of Nexthuss, who was put on trial for allegedly manipulating the circulation volume of the cryptocurrency WEMIX to inflate the stock price, was acquitted in the first trial.
On July 15, the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Sangyeon) acquitted Jang of violating the Capital Markets Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. Wemade was also acquitted, as its former CEO Jang was found not guilty.
The court stated, "The Capital Markets Act regulates financial investment products, and in this case, the product in question is Wemade stock, not the virtual asset WEMIX." The court determined that Jang's 2022 statement that "the liquidity of WEMIX coins would be suspended" was not related to the price of Wemade stock.
Previously, prosecutors had demanded a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 200 million won for Jang, and a fine of 500 million won for Wemade, arguing that investors were misled by Jang's remarks and purchased WEMIX coins, which in turn boosted Wemade's stock price. However, the court ruled that it was difficult to conclude that the rise in Wemade's stock price was solely due to the increase in the price of WEMIX coins.
The court added, "It is worth considering how such actions would be evaluated under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which has now been enacted." The court explained that even if Jang's remarks were false, there was no basis for punishment at the time of the statement, as the Virtual Asset User Protection Act did not exist then.
After the trial, Jang said, "WEMIX investors and Wemade shareholders must have had a difficult time, and I would like to offer a comprehensive apology."
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