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Former Bithumb Chairman Acquitted in $100M Fraud Case

Prosecutors in South Korea were seeking an eight-year prison sentence for Lee Jung-Hoon, who was acquitted in the first court hearing.

By Sandali Handagama
AccessTimeIconJan 3, 2023 at 1:01 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 4:05 a.m. UTC
(Shutterstock)

(Shutterstock)

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The former chairman of Bithumb Holdings, the parent company of crypto exchange Bithumb Korea, was acquitted of charges that he committed $100 million in fraud on the grounds that the alleged crime couldn't be proven, CoinDesk Korea reported Tuesday.

Lee Jung-Hoon was indicted in July 2021. Last October, South Korean prosecutors asked a court to sentence him to eight years in prison. Lee was accused of stealing the money from cosmetic surgeon Kim Byung-Gun during negotiations for an acquisition deal.

In 2018, Lee proposed that Kim, who was chairman of BK Medical Group, take over Bithumb under a joint management arrangement. Lee was accused of embezzling the acquisition deposit in the name of listing "BXA token," according to the report.

The court judged that Kim's claims against Lee weren't credible.

If prosecutors are dissatisfied with the judgment of the court, they can appeal the judgement within a week, the report said.

Read more: South Korean Prosecutors Seeking 8-Year Sentence for Ex-Bithumb Chairman

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The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, institutional digital assets exchange. Bullish group is majority owned by Block.one; both groups have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary, and an editorial committee, chaired by a former editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal, is being formed to support journalistic integrity.

Sandali Handagama
Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She does not own any crypto.

Follow @iamsandali on Twitter

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