'Employee Assault and Confinement' Coinbit Former Chairman Choi Chang-woo Receives Suspended Prison Sentence in First Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Choi Chang-woo, former chairman of ExiaSoft, which operates the cryptocurrency exchange 'Coinbit,' was prosecuted for assaulting and detaining an employee and was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.

On the afternoon of the 10th, Judge Bang Hyemi of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 sentenced Chairman Choi, who was indicted on charges of joint extortion and joint detention, to one year in prison with a two-year suspension. Sales directors B (48) and C (44), who were also indicted on the same charges, were each sentenced to 10 months in prison with a two-year suspension. They were also ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.

Judge Bang stated the sentencing reasons, saying, "Considering the circumstances and content of the crime, the nature of the offense is not good, but the crime occurred because the company operated by the defendant suffered damage due to the victim's actions," and "taking into account that the victim reached an agreement with the defendant and does not wish for punishment."

Earlier, former Chairman Choi was prosecuted on charges of assaulting, threatening, and detaining employee D (23) for about eight hours in the chairman's office on January 11, 2019, suspected of making trading profits using internal company information. It was investigated that he shouted, "Other employees were hit and then confessed. Do you want to be hit too? Do your eyeballs have to burst for you to speak?"

B and C, who were with him, are also accused of taking D to another room, threatening him by saying, "You cannot leave until you repay 60 million won," and detaining him. D reportedly transferred a total of 21 million won several times to an account under C's name and was released around 4 a.m.

In court, former Chairman Choi denied the charges of threat and detention, saying, "I only slapped him twice." He pleaded, "(Usually) I provide good welfare to employees. I have never scolded an employee before." B argued, "I just said a few words as a supervisor while investigating an unfortunate incident at the company," and "It is unfair to be sued and tried."

However, Judge Bang found all their charges guilty. She pointed out, "The victim's testimony is credible, and the statements of witnesses also correspond," and "It is recognized that the defendants jointly threatened the victim to receive money and detained him."

The prosecution initially decided not to indict due to insufficient evidence, but the court accepted a retrial request filed by the victims who opposed this, leading to the indictment.

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