Prosecution Seeks 8-Year Prison Sentence for Bithumb Real Owner on 100 Billion Won Fraud Charges

Lee Jung-hoon, the former chairman of Bithumb Holdings and Korea and the actual owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, is attending the continuation of the first trial held on the 4th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The prosecution has requested a heavy sentence for the actual owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, who was indicted on fraud charges involving 100 billion won.

On the 25th, at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Presiding Judge Kang Gyutae), during the trial of Lee Jeonghoon, former chairman of the Bithumb Korea board, on fraud charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, the prosecution asked the court to sentence him to eight years in prison.

On that day, the prosecutor emphasized, "The amount of damage is very large, especially the damage to ordinary coin investors is significant," and added, "The defendant continues to deny the crime, and the nature of the offense is serious, so a heavy sentence should be imposed."

Lee’s defense attorney argued, "The structure of this case is a typical stock trading contract," and claimed that the contract was faithfully carried out according to the usual procedures. Rather, they also argued that BK Group Chairman Kim was accusing Lee to avoid criminal responsibility.

In his final statement, Lee said, "At the time of the sale, Bithumb was the number one exchange in Korea," and "The contract was concluded based on a contract drafted by lawyers from a major law firm." He added, "I am truly sorry for causing hardship to employees and social harm," and "I never made any problematic promises or deceived anyone during the company sale."

Lee’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for the afternoon of December 20.

Previously, Lee was brought to trial on charges of embezzling about 112 billion won as a deposit by deceiving Chairman Kim in October 2018, when he proposed the acquisition of Bithumb and promised to issue and list the so-called 'Bithumb Coin' (BXA) on Bithumb. It was investigated that Chairman Kim, trusting Lee’s words, used part of the funds obtained from pre-selling BXA as capital to purchase Bithumb shares.

However, BXA was never listed on Bithumb, and Chairman Kim’s acquisition of Bithumb also fell through. Victims who invested in BXA filed complaints against both Lee and Chairman Kim, but investigative authorities judged that Chairman Kim was also a victim deceived by Lee and did not punish him.

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