Trial of Bithumb's Real Owner in 100 Billion Won Fraud Case... Judge Scolds Defense Attorney

Bithumb Gangnam Center, Gangnam-gu, Seoul [Image source=Yonhap News]

"If you approach the trial so insincerely, I must tell you that it will never be advantageous in court."

Presiding Judge Heo Seon-ah of the Criminal Division 34 at the Seoul Central District Court issued a warning to the actual controlling party of 'Bithumb,' the largest domestic cryptocurrency exchange, who has been indicted on fraud charges amounting to around 100 billion KRW.

At the first pretrial conference held on the morning of the 28th, when the defense counsel stated, "Due to insufficient review of the records, we cannot submit the evidence list for the charges," Judge Heo sharply reprimanded them. She said, "The indictment was filed in early July, and considering the recess period and the Chuseok holiday, the defendant has been given ample opportunity to review. On the contrary, the schedule was handled with plenty of time."

Since attendance is not mandatory at the pretrial conference, former Bithumb Korea Board Chairman Lee Jeong-hoon did not attend that day. Instead, his attorney appeared. The defense counsel said, "We were recently appointed at the trial stage, so the review of the records has been insufficient. We applied for an extension of the schedule, but it was not accepted. We will review the records as quickly as possible and submit the evidence list." He also stated that they "basically deny the prosecution's charges."

The court demanded that former Chairman Lee submit the evidence list (where the defense indicates whether they agree to the prosecutor's submitted materials being used as evidence in court) by the 15th of next month. The prosecution was ordered to supplement some of the charges. Additionally, the first trial date was set for November 8, and the court announced that it would proceed with the witness examination of victim Kim, chairman of BK Group, as requested by the prosecution.

Earlier, former Chairman Lee is accused of deceiving Chairman Kim in October 2018 by proposing the acquisition of Bithumb and issuing so-called 'Bithumb Coin' (BXA), promising to list it on Bithumb, and embezzling 112 billion KRW as a deposit under false pretenses. Investigations revealed that Chairman Kim trusted Lee’s words and partially used the funds obtained from the presale of BXA as capital to purchase shares of Bithumb. However, BXA was never listed on Bithumb, and Kim’s acquisition of Bithumb fell through.

The Criminal Division 14 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Ji-wan) judged that former Chairman Lee’s actions constitute fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and indicted him in July. Initially, the prosecution considered applying fraud charges to Chairman Kim, who sold BXA to cryptocurrency investors, but determined that he was also a victim deceived by former Chairman Lee and thus decided not to prosecute him.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.