Bithumb’s Owner Was Requested By Prosecutors In South Korea For An Arrest Warrant

Key Points:

• Kang and two Bithumb executives were convicted under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes by the Financial Investigation 2nd Division of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office on allegations of embezzlement and breach of trust.
• On January 25, South Korean prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Kang Jong-Hyun, the chairman and owner of bitcoin exchange Bithumb.

Kang Jong-Hyun, chairman and owner of the bitcoin exchange Bithumb, was the subject of an arrest warrant request by South Korean prosecutors on January 25.

Investigators are looking into charges of misappropriation by Bithumb’s leaders at one of the country’s top cryptocurrency exchanges. South Korean authorities sought an arrest warrant for Kang Jong-Hyun, the chairman and owner of this bitcoin exchange, on January 25, according to local news site Infomax. Kang is wanted on suspicion of embezzlement in connection with his operations at the exchange.

On the same day, Kang and two executives were convicted under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes by the Financial Investigation 2nd Division of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office for embezzlement and breach of trust. Under the Capital Markets Act, the executives were additionally charged with engaging in fraudulent and unlawful operations.

Bithumb had previously been placed under a “special tax inquiry” by the country’s National Tax Service on January 10. Concurrently, Kang is being investigated for allegedly manipulating the stock prices of this exchange affiliates Inbiogen and Bucket Studio through the issuing of convertible bonds. Vidente is now firm’s largest stakeholder, holding 34.2% of the company.

Park Mo, Bithumb’s top shareholder, was discovered dead in front of his own house on December 30, 2022, following inquiries into his suspected participation in embezzling cash from Bithumb-related enterprises. Mo is thought to have committed himself as a result of the nature of the criminal charges leveled against him.

Following the news, Lee Jung-Hoon, the former chairman of the firm, was found not guilty of a $70 million fraud accusation stemming from his activities at Bithumb. With a 24-hour transaction volume of $467 million, the exchange is one of South Korea’s largest.

However, the Kang brothers are not the first Bithumb leaders to find themselves in a legal quagmire in the Republic of Korea. Former Bithumb Chairman Lee Jung-Hoon was acquitted of $100 million fraud charges on January 3. Furthermore, during the inquiry, a Vice Chairman of Vidente Group and the largest stakeholder of Bithumb committed suicide.

Bithumb is now one of the five largest and “leftover” cryptocurrency exchanges following the country’s sector crackdown in 2021. This platform was “nearly” to FTX – the exchange has declared bankruptcy and is experiencing several challenges.

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